Separated
by Twitches2
Summary: Fairy Tail is being targeted by a dark guild, the Maire Guild. Co-written by Gemini and Libra. Stars OCs Saphira and Skye. Feel free to leave reviews.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One – Saphira

_Dear Feu,_

_By this time tomorrow I will be within the famous Fairy Tail guild hall, if all goes as planned. I'm finally going to get the chance to meet the demons that took you away from me. I'm going to make them pay for what they've done. When they took you from me, I had nothing left; well, nothing but Luna. I was seven years old, and because of them I spent the next three years trying to fend for myself. If it weren't for my magic, I would've died._

_From what Lavond tells me, they also have a fire dragon slayer named Natsu and he's rumored to be very powerful. I don't remember his last name because I tend to zone out when Lavond goes on her Fairy Tail rants. I don't know if I'll be able to defeat him or the infamous Erza Scarlet. I'm scared to think that I'm the strongest the Maire guild has to offer. I know I'm strong, but what if I let Lavond down? She'd kick me out of the guild for sure, or worse. _

_I don't know what I'd do if I never got the chance to give you the letters I've written over the years. I hope nothing has happened to you. You and Luna are all I've got left and an exceed isn't a substitute for a mother figure. I've had no luck tracking down my real parents. I don't know if I really want to find them though. They gave me away before I even had a name. But that's okay; only a dragon could come up with a name as different as Saphira. They probably would've named me like Jessica or Joelle or some other stupid name like that. _

_The only thing I have to remember my parents by is my ruby necklace. Considering everything that they've put me through, I probably would've trashed it already if you hadn't told me not to. I don't understand your reasoning, Feu, but I trust your judgement._

_I'm scared but I swear this to you right now; I will fight until my very last breath to get you back. Look out Fairy Tail; here comes your worst nightmare._

_Love always,_

_Saphira_

I read over the letter making sure I had expressed my feelings satisfactorily.

"Oh! What's that? A love letter?" Kade asked and took the letter from me.

Though I thought it best to leave my exceed, Luna, in the care of Lavond and Melodia, Kade decided, unfortunately, to bring his bird, stupidly name Cadence, along with him. The idiotic ball of mangy feathers decided this would be a good time for a snack. His food of choice just happened to be my letter to Feu. He started to peck at the letter now residing in Kade's hand.

Anger swelled up inside of me and I could feel my eyes slowly turning from their usual metallic blue color to a blood red.

"Maybe you should try feeding your stupid parrot every once in a while," I raged.

"It's a parakeet," he retorted, "and what do you think I'm doing?"

"That's so much more manly," I muttered back at him.

I glared at him and ripped the letter out of his hand, folded it and tucked it into one of my thigh highs, making sure to move it far enough away from my dagger so that it wouldn't get cut.

"Cool it, hothead. I didn't actually read it," Kade said with his _I'm-trying-to-charm-you_ smile. "You know if you took off the Goth liner, tried on a color that wasn't red or black, and didn't burn people when you got mad, you could actually be pretty hot," he said chuckling.

"Screw off, Kade," I said.

"If you had a less scary twin, I'd totally be into that," he said, purposely trying to fuel the fire.

"Yeah, well, too bad for you. I don't even have a family, let alone a twin," I said trying to control the fire that was trying so desperately to escape.

"Are you trying to burn a hole through me, Saphira?" he asked avoiding my gaze.

"A girl can only hope, and don't call me hothead," I exclaimed and tried desperately to burn him with my eyes. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

"I just call it how I see it," he responded, clearly enjoying my anger.

"Like you can judge, airhead," I said and smirked back. I looked at the map trying to locate where exactly in the woods we were.

"Just because I'm a wind wizard, that doesn't make me an airhead. Besides you can't judge me on being an airhead, blondie," he responded and gestured to the blonde waves cascading down to my hips.

My hair wasn't entirely blonde though. The tips of my hair were red. When in the heat of battle, whether it be physical or verbal, the parts that are red actually catch fire. That's why I keep my hair so long; it makes a great weapon.

Both Kade and I were genetically modified so that we'd be strong enough to take down the Fairy Tail guild. We're the strongest wizards in the Maire guild.

They took us in at a young age. After Feu disappeared, Lavond found Luna and me. Kade was travelling with her when she led us to them. Through both scientific and magical processes, they morphed us into magic assassins that were tailored to wipe out certain members of the Fairy Tail guild. My target is Natsu Dragneel and Kade's is Wendy Marvell.

My modifications include my hair, my claws, and my wings. The red in my hair will catch fire whenever I'm fighting. The scientists say it's "due to increased levels of adrenaline as well as other chemicals in my brain." All I know is that it makes for one hell of a weapon. Another secret weapon would be my ability to transform my human nails into dragon-like claws. My wings act as those of an exceed, but they resemble those of dragons. I have full control over their presence or lack thereof.

Kade's abilities are more subtle. He's essentially a wind wizard on steroids. His abilities have been intensified so that he can even create tornados. He can manipulate the atmosphere around him so that the air supports his weight, thus giving him the ability of flight. He can control gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, even when present in other forms such as blood, giving him the ability to manipulate a person's movements.

The doctors also warn that we may gain unforeseen abilities as time progresses and our bodies continue to react to the modifications. I don't know what these abilities will include, but there's no doubt that they will be badass.

"The Fairy Tail guild is just through those trees," Kade said.

"Shall we split up?" I asked. "You take the front. I'll scout out back."

"Good plan," Kade said as he started to walk away, "for a hothead."

I could feel my face grimace as I heard the sly remark. He's lucky he got away before I had time to react. I could hear my hair starting to sizzle.

I approached the building cautiously and I surveyed my surrounding, scouting out any way I could've been detected. Upon realizing that I was alone, I advanced towards the back door. I crouched down beside the door, tucking my hair behind my ears and using my dragon sense of hearing to figure out what lies behind it.

I could hear just about everyone in the guild. Much to my discontent, I could not hear the accelerated heart rate of the dragon slayers.

"Dammit," I cursed quietly to myself.

"_We still need to get more decorations for the ball tonight, Master," _I heard the irritating voice of the infamous Mirajane echo. "_Should I ask Natsu and company to pick some up while their out getting costumes?"_

Upon the realization that there were only two costumes shops in all of Magnolia, I set off, finally rid of the petulant voice that was forcing its way into my head. In the midst of running, I realized that Kade had no way of knowing that Wendy wasn't in there at all. I chuckled to myself and decided to let him waste his time. His target wasn't my concern after all.

I decided to check the closest costume shop first and to my luck I could hear his heart beating through the wooden walls loud and clearly. I snuck through the employee entrance and looked around for a disguise of some sort. The only disguise I found wasn't vacant unfortunately, but with persuasion and duct tape the woman occupying it complied and I assumed the rule of the cashier.

There were two Fairy Tail members that I recognized there: Gray Fullbuster and my target. From what I could see they were the only people in the store at that time being. The very second that Gray walked away I sauntered over to Natsu doing my very best to conjure up a disarming smile.

"May I help you, sir?" I asked trying to conceal my hatred so it wouldn't show in my eyes.

I reached down to my dagger nonchalantly and gripped it tightly. A wave of excitement flooded over my body. It was finally time to exact my revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – Skye

"Happy, you don't need a snack," I said to the blue cat. "C'mon. We're getting behind Gray and Natsu."

I practically had to drag the exceed away from the food stand. I could see the boys getting closer to the costume shop and I knew we had to catch up to them before they trashed the entire store.

"Fine," Happy grumbled as he tried to snag an apple.

We were still a little way behind the boys, but I didn't smell smoke yet, so I had to assume everything was alright for the time being. Even the simple task of picking out a costume for the annual Magnolia Costume Ball was a risky thing when you sent fire and ice out together.

I was still nervous, though. I reached up to my necklace, a choker with a sapphire gem that my mom gave me when I was little.

"Don't take this off," I remembered my mother strictly ordering. "It will be your good luck charm. Even when you have your doubts, you will never be alone as long as you wear your gem."

I struggled to bite back the tears at the painful memories of my parents as we entered the store. I saw Natsu talking with a blonde employee.

"Your hair is really cool you know," he said to the girl. I had to admire her red dip-dyed tips. "You know, they kinda look like fire."

I saw her hand reach into her thigh high socks and close around an unknown item. She slowly withdrew the object and I saw the unmistakable glint of a blade.

"Natsu!" I screamed. Using my water magic, I shot the dagger out of her hand and watched it lodge into the ceiling. The girl turned around to see just who foiled her murderous attempt.

A glint of recognition appeared in both of our eyes as they met. We stood across from each other, both analyzing the other's appearance. Our eyes, the shape of our bodies, our long blonde (for the most part) wavy hair; everything about us was almost exactly the same; we had only minute differences. Her taste in clothing and makeup was evidently darker than mine and she had a significantly large amount of red in her hair, but we were almost a mirror image of each other.

I analyzed her outfit and noticed that she had a necklace almost identical to mine. The only difference was our gems; mine's a sapphire and hers is most likely a ruby. I felt my gem grow warm as I saw hers start to faintly glow.

Everything went blurry and my sense of time was interrupted.

It was all black and white, and I was back in my parent's house. I must've been rather young, judging by which nanny sat next to me. We were playing a card game; all four of us. Bethany and my father sat on either side of me and there was another girl across the table.

"You're turn, Rhi," the nanny's sweet voice haunted.

"Okay, Bethany," the girl said as she put down her card.

I heard a knock on the front door. I turned to see who was there as my father's hand reached for the handle.

Gray rounded the corner with Happy on his shoulder as he accidentally knocked over a display. The loud crash brought my thoughts back to the present. The lost memories that sometimes cloud my mind left with a jolt. I looked up and noticed that Gray's shirt had mysteriously disappeared and he had a look of urgency on his face, probably in response to my earlier exclamation.

`Natsu's expression summed it all up. "Whoa. Are you the same person?"

The other girl's face contorted into a look of total disbelief at the question. She turned her head towards him. "Did Natsu Dragneel, the famous dragon slayer, really just ask a question that dumb?"

"You really must not know Natsu," Gray uttered.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled.

"The better question," I said, "is why the hell you were about to pull a dagger on Natsu."

Silence filled the air as the boys came to realize what had just happened. The fake employee looked from Natsu to me as she attempted to formulate an answer. She looked beyond me at the door, and I could see her getaway plan forming.

"She's gonna run!" I yelled as she began to accelerate towards me. I'll admit I was scared; if she had a dagger ready before, I could only imagine what other weapons she had concealed.

Gray shot ice out of his hands and trapped her feet in an icy prison. Her momentum forced her to continue down into the ground, knocking her head off the tile. Her eyes closed and her body went limp and I could only assume that she was unconscious.

"Did she just try to stab me?" Natsu questioned with disbelief.

"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed.

"Did it take you that long to put that together, idiot?" Gray asked.

"More importantly, who is she and why does she look like me?" I inquired.

"That's really more important than the fact that she was going to stab me?!" Natsu yelled.

"Allow me to rephrase," I said to appease him. "Who is she, why does she look like me, and why did she try to stab Natsu?"

"Better!" Natsu said with a grin. "So what now?"

"She could've been sent by someone," Gray said. "We can't exactly send her back to whoever sent her and let her try again."

"We could take her back to the guild hall," Happy suggested.

"That makes sense," I added. "We can question her. Figure out who she is and who sent her. Then we can let Makarov decide what to do with her."

"So," Natsu started, "how exactly are we planning on getting her to the guild hall? Jack Frost here froze her feet to the floor."

"I didn't see you doing anything to try to stop her!" Gray yelled. "At least she's knocked out!"

"Happy can always fly her there!" Natsu suggested.

"As you so wonderfully pointed out, her feet are still stuck to the floor," Gray said.

"Oh," Natsu grumbled, "I guess that's right. I can always try to heat the ice up!"

"And burn her and her clothes?" I pointed out.

"Just because you're fireproof doesn't mean everything is, pyro," Gray criticized.

"I'm just coming up with ideas!" Natsu yelled.

"Too bad they aren't very good ones," Gray muttered.

"Oh shut it, Frosty the Snowman," Natsu retorted.

"Do you have any ideas, Skye?" Happy squeaked.

"We can melt the ice with hot water," I suggested. "I can use my magic to supply the water and Natsu can heat it up."

"And then Gray can just sit there and do nothing because he's the one that caused this mess," Natsu remarked with a smile.

"Again, I didn't see you do anything to try and stop her!" Gray defended.

"What did you want me to do?" Natsu asked. "Barbeque her? We can't exactly interrogate a pile of ash!"

"Let's not turn anyone into ash please!" I yelled, "Let's just melt the ice and take her back to the guild hall."

"But we still need costumes and she's the cashier," Natsu said.

Everyone stopped and stared at him.

"If the chick was still awake, she'd give you that same what the hell is wrong with you look from before," Gray laughed.

"You do know she wasn't the actual cashier, right?" I asked.

"Where is the cashier?" Happy inquired.

"That's a good question," I stated. "Another good question; Gray, where is your shirt?"

"Just be happy he still has his pants on," Natsu grumbled.

"Shut up, pyro!" Gray yelled.

"Make me, frosty!" Natsu retorted.

"Boys!" I exclaimed, "Gray and Happy, go find the cashier. Natsu, help me with the magic melting."

After we unfroze her feet, we took her back to Fairy Tail for further questioning. Thankfully, she didn't wake up while we were transporting her to the vacant room in the back of the guild hall. We chose to hide her from the other guild members to avoid panic before we got the masters opinion on the matter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three – Saphira

I awoke in a dark room. I could vaguely hear voices outside the door discussing what they planned to ask me. My hands were bound behind the chair I was placed in and my feet were tied to the legs. I struggled to break free but I wasn't strong enough and the ropes must have been magic proof so I couldn't burn through them.

"_So should we just go in there and question her?" _I heard the voice of the fire dragon slayer question.

"_I doubt that she'll give us any actual answers, Natsu," _I heard my own voice say. But it couldn't have been my voice; I didn't plan on uttering a single word during the inevitable interrogation they were about to put me through.

"_That doesn't mean we shouldn't try," _Natsu responded.

"_We shouldn't just go in there blind," _I heard an older voice say. It was probably the mastermind behind all of Fairy Tail's evil, Makarov. "_We don't know what her magic is. We don't want to be caught off guard."_

"_Well how are we supposed to identify her powers?" _the voice of Mirajane came back to haunt me.

"_Those ropes that she's secured with aren't regular magic proof ropes," _my voice explained. "_They will identify any magic that she tries to use against them. Levy and I have perfected them over the past couple of weeks. We just need to give her time to try to escape."_

"_Approximately how long should we wait before we check on her?" _Natsu asked.

"_Wait," _the annoying blue exceed interrupted, "_if she just tried to stab Natsu, what if she has more weapons?"_

"_Did no one bother to search her?" _Gray asked.

"_Someone better go do it while she's still unconscious," _Mirajane added.

Even without using my advanced dragon sense of hearing, I could hear the boys arguing over who would search me. "_Let's have someone more, um, female search her, boys," _I heard Mirajane say to calm to verbal war.

"_I'll do it," _my doppelganger's voice said. "_I might as well be the one to search her since we look so alike. I'm practically searching myself. And wait a minute, why were you guys so okay with searching her?"_

"_Go on, Skye," _Natsu responded with a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "_She's not going to search herself,"_ he paused and played back what he just said in his head. "_Or are you searching yourself? I'm lost!"_

"_Aye, sir!" _The cat squeaked.

I heard the doorknob rattle briefly and the door swung open slowly as if with hesitation. I closed my eyes quickly, drooped my head, and pretended to be asleep.

I heard her enter the room hesitantly. She examined me thoroughly, careful not to move my bindings. She had found numerous weapons from my various hiding places.

"Oh," the girl said as she reached into my thigh high.

'_Shit,' _I thought, '_she found my note to Feu.'_

It was near impossible to hide my rage as she retrieved the note. She checked inside both of my gloves pausing on my right hand.

"Natsu! Gray! Makarov! Mirajane!" she yelled. "Come in here!"

I could hear them rambunctiously enter the room. Still lifting my right glove, she ambitiously showed the others. "Look at her birthmark!"

I don't understand what's so special about my birthmark.

"Hey, don't you have the same one, Skye?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, the exact same one, but on the other wrist," she responded.

"Can we check the ropes for indications of her powers yet?" Natsu asked seeming anxious.

"Well she is asleep, so we could untie her briefly," my doppelganger said.

'_This is my chance to get away. The second they take off my bindings I'm going to book it,_' I thought and braced myself to run.

She loosened the knot slowly at first and then paused. "Natsu, guard the door in case she is awake and tries to run," she said, ruining my only chance for escape.

'_Screw you, why do you have to be smart?' _I raged in my head.

I could feel the bindings loosen as they started to untie them. Though I knew the door was blocked, I still readied myself to take my chance at running. I subtly planted my feet in the best running stance I could manage and bolted as soon as the last rope was slack.

I ran straight to the door, ignoring the mess of firepower and pink hair that tried to block my path. I slammed my shoulder into him and we both flew into the wall. He crumpled to the ground, trying to recover from my body slam while I ran down the hall. Thankfully, I was running in the right direction.

I reached the giant entryway of the guild hall. The massive doors were wide open with only two little figures standing in the way. Even from a distance I recognized Kade and his idiotic bird.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Kade closed the doors with a wave of his hand and a simple gust of wind. His maniacal smile and his cynical goodbye wave was all I could see as the doors, and my freedom, slammed in my face.

Gray and Skye were running close behind me and managed to recapture their prisoner. Natsu and Mirajane were slowly making their way towards us, ready to assist their friends. They dragged me back to my makeshift prison cell and retied me to the chair, this time making sure to secure me as tightly as possible.

"While you guys were off on a wild goose chase, I was busy analyzing the results of the ropes," Makarov said. "Though the ropes don't give a specific type of magic, I was able to conclude that she uses some form of fire magic. You are extremely lucky that she didn't try to use her magic against you, or you would all be barbequed."

"Except for me!" Natsu exclaimed. "Perks of being a fire dragon slayer. Wait; I could've just melted the ice!"

"Not everyone is fireproof, lava brain," Gray muttered. "There was no guarantee you wouldn't singe her. Besides, her clothes would've still caught on fire. Oh, and by the way, did you just get body slammed by a skinny blonde girl?"

"Hey!" Natsu yelled. "She may not look like it, but she's more powerful than you think!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed.

"Shut it, Happy!" Natsu yelled even louder.

While they continued bickering, I attempted to file away at the ropes with my dragon claws. Though I couldn't tell if the clawing was working, it was very easily my best shot at breaking free of these murderous lunatics. I looked up at the small, dusty window and saw a familiar sight. Cadence was in the window staring down at me mockingly. I hated that stupid bird and his stupid owner.

Just the sight of the bird started to make my hair glow. Though annoyance alone can't quite set the red tips ablaze, it is enough to take notice. The faint glimmering managed to catch the attention of the Fairy Tail wizards.

"What's wrong with her hair?" Skye asked.

"It looks even more like fire!" Natsu exclaimed. "I wanna touch it!"

"What's going on with her hands?" Gray yelled. "It's like she has claws or something."

I quickly retracted the claws and tried to calm myself down before my hair actually went aflame. I looked at each of the wizards in turn to judge their reactions to my abilities. Most looked completely appalled. Natsu and Skye both just looked intrigued.

"I think she was trying to claw her way to freedom," Gray announced. "Shall I freeze her hands?"

"Go for it, frosty," I challenged.

I could feel my hands being encased in an icy cold barrier. As soon as Gray had backed away to admire his handy work, I deployed my claws like a missile, causing the ice to crack in half.

Even in his shock, Natsu exclaimed, "Ice make, FAILURE!" at Gray.

"Shut it, Natsu!" Gray screeched.

I could feel the smirk stretch across my lips as their attempts to restrain me were foiled.

"We'll need to restrain her claws in another way," Makarov explained.

"Good luck," I said mockingly.

"Natsu can just hold her hands," Happy said suggestively.

"Natsu can what?" Natsu and I both exclaimed at the same time.

"Did you guys forget about the part where she tried to stab me and then later body slammed me into a wall?" Natsu continued.

"No, but you're the only one who can handle fire magic if she does manage to break free. And besides, she has no more weapons," Skye responded giving him a pleading look.

"As far as you know," I mumbled.

"What was that?" Gray asked. "Do we need to search you again?" he said sounding cocky and a little too enthusiastic.

I turned my head away from him.

"You just got denied by the prisoner," Natsu laughed.

"Like you weren't thinking the same thing," Gray responded. "Now are you going to restrain her or not?"

"Fine. But if she hurts me, it's on you," he said and enveloped my hands in his.

Warmth flooded over my entire body the very second his skin came in contact with mine. I didn't actually know I could get any physically warmer than I already was, my being a fire dragon slayer and all. The red in my hair was set ablaze instantly, and it was brighter than I had ever seen before. I didn't know how to explain that feeling or why my hair lit up like that but I had never felt more powerful in all of my life. I was trying so hard to keep a poker face but I could tell that my being shocked was present all over my face. My changing facial expression was completely involuntary, however, by the time I had realized it had changed everyone had already seen it.

"Whoa, her hair!" they all exclaimed in unison.

"Wow, now it looks ever more like fire!" Natsu said fascinated by my amber tipped hair.

"Her hair doesn't matter right now guys!" Skye yelled over the low murmurs of theories as to why my hair did what it did when he touched my hands. "We still need to figure out where she's from and why she attacked Natsu."

"Oh, yeah that's right!" they all once again said in unison.

"Who are you?" Skye asked.

I could tell my interrogation was beginning now, so I pressed my lips together tightly and prepared for hours of questioning. Everyone left the room except for Skye and Natsu, who was still serving as my makeshift restraint.

"Not gonna talk?" Skye questioned.

I had to admit I was curious about this girl. We were mirror images of each other, right down to our identical birthmarks on opposite wrists, and yet I was positive there was no relationship whatsoever. After all, why would my parents give me away and keep her?

She grumbled and exited the room. Using my dragon sense of hearing, I could still make out what she was saying to the others.

"_I knew she'd stay silent," _Skye said. "_We have no leverage Makarov! There's no reason for her to tell us anything!"_

"_Give Natsu a chance. I have a theory_," he responded and they walked, away leaving me with him.

"What's your name, blondie?" he asked still holding my hands.

"Not blondie!" I responded without thinking.

I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I was supposed to stay quiet but I couldn't help but respond to him.

"Oh, fiery," he said sounding intrigued.

I remained silent, refusing to meet his eyes which were fixed intently upon me. I had to keep my cool; I didn't earn my title of strongest in the guild by letting my emotions get the better of me.

"Saphira," I blurted out once again without thought. I was mentally kicking myself for my inability to remain silent.

"Well, Saphira," he said loosening his grip a little bit, "what have I done to warrant your wrath?"

"I'm just here to take back what's mine," I spat venomously, refusing to meet his gaze still.

"What did I take from you?" he questioned sounding confused.

"You're all evil, and your guild must be eliminated," I stated sounding almost robotic.

"Who fed you that nonsense?" he asked sounding semi offended.

I remained silent and just shook my head, refusing to give anything else away. Then Skye burst through the door holding my letter to Feu.

"Natsu, you might want to read this," she said handing him the letter.

"Don't you dare!" I exclaimed, my eyes turning red, and my hair burning brightly.

"Oh, now I have to read it," he said smirking as he read it.

I struggled to get my hands free but even only with one hand he was still stronger than me. I couldn't use my powers against him because it would be virtually useless and the magic ropes binding my hands and feet blocked all of my magical abilities substantially. I just sat there and raged silently in my head. Skye backed out of the room while Natsu read.

"So, you're a dragon slayer too?" he asked seeming amused by the situational irony. "How do you explain the claws and the hair? And what happened to your dragon, Fweeh?"

"I was genetically changed so that I could kill you," I responded without thinking. I can't believe that I keep giving all of my secrets. "And her name is Fay," I said insulted. "And you should know exactly what happened to her.

"You were trying to kill me?" he asked with a hurt look in his eyes.

"I did try to stab you, you know. Why are you asking me questions you already know the answer to?" I asked, metaphorically spitting fire.

"Well, get comfortable because we're both gonna be here awhile," he said sounding almost happy about what he just stated.

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" I asked surprised by my still being alive.

"This is Fairy Tail; we don't roll that way," he said with a proud smile. "Also I don't think you deserve it. It's not your fault you've been lied to," he finished.

"You're lying," I responded sounding more like I was begging him to say he was, rather than telling him.

"You'll see. You just need to see the guild for what it really is," he stated confidently smiling at me.

I had no idea what had come over me but I was starting to believe him. I was starting to trust him. It didn't make any sense because I was supposed to hate him, but I couldn't do it. I had gone completely insane. I didn't know what I was feeling, but it definitely wasn't what I was supposed to be feeling. I was scared because I knew whatever I was feeling would only grow over time, and I couldn't get away. But the scariest part of all was that I didn't think I wanted to get away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – Skye

A week had passed since we had captured Saphira. From what I understand of her letter, she thinks that the dragon that raised her, Feu, was stolen from her by our guild. Some time ago, all of dragons vanished, leaving Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Saphira, and multiple other dragon slayers with no one to care for them. Apparently, Lavond, the leader of a smaller, less widely known guild, took her in at a young age. She convinced her that we captured Feu so that she would believe us to be evil and has turned her into a Fairy Tail assassin. None of us had the ability to blame her since she had no way of knowing that wasn't the truth.

Natsu has spent the past week dragging her around with him trying to convince her that we aren't the enemy. At first, she looked miserable, not that we can blame her. She had just found out her whole life was essentially one giant lie.

Although, halfway through the week, she softened up a little and broke her silent streak. She only talks to the other dragon slayers, but that's step in the right direction.

She's ironically seemed to have taken a liking to Natsu. Any time he touches her or even looks at her, she lights up like a Christmas tree physically and metaphorically.

Natsu has even seemed to be better since she showed up. His and Gray's bickering has reduced significantly and now that spark he gets in his eyes usually only when he's fighting is ever present. It's amusing to see them react to each other.

I haven't personally spoken to her much yet because she's constantly with Natsu, but when I get the chance, I intend upon learning more about her. I want to know why we look so alike and how we have the same birthmark and almost the same necklaces. It perplexes me, and I must figure it out soon, but I don't know when Natsu is gonna slow down long enough for me to get the chance. He has to stop eventually, right? Seeing as how she was literally chained to him, I couldn't exactly separate them.

There's a lot about this situation that I just don't get. First off, why doesn't she have a guild label anywhere on her? Also, why have none of her guild mates come after her yet? It's been a whole week now.

What will happen now, since her and Natsu have some sort of flirtationship, if her guild does come for her? Will she go back to her guild, now that she found Natsu and obviously can't kill him? Especially now that she knows her guild has been lying to her?

I had so many unanswered questions swarming through my mind. It was like having an agitated swarm of bees buzzing aggressively in my head. These thoughts have been vexing me and I wanted them to stop.

"We've got company!" I heard Gray's panicked voice yell throughout the guild hall.

Even though Natsu visibly wanted to fight, the chain around his wrist binding him to Saphira reminded him that he had to protect the captive. He backed into one of the side halls to keep both of them hidden. Erza led everyone outside into battle in her most elegant suit of armor. Many members of the guild surged towards the three wizards and the black exceed.

I ran forward towards the only male of the small group. Erza had challenged the woman that was evidently the leader, and I saw Wendy start towards the remaining wizard.

I refocused on the task at hand; I had to take down the Maire guild member now threatening Fairy Tail.

From what I could tell by looking at him, he had medium length brown hair, and steel gray eyes. He locked his eyes on the ground and mentally prepared himself. An orb of swirling energy began to form in his hands and I knew that was my cue to get out of the way. I ran at him, using a rock as a mount to push myself off the ground, flipping over him and landing behind him.

I replicated his move and created an orb made of water. The water swirled around in my hand spherically, building intensity progressively the longer I held it. Once I decided it had enough magic power behind it to do a significant amount of damage I extended my arm out to attack. Suddenly something grasped my wrist tightly, rendering me unable to expel my weapon.

I could feel a tingling sensation emanating from where he touched my arm. My vision was crystal clear, but my head started to feel fuzzy. I looked up into his eyes and found myself unable to move. Was he an ice wizard, too? Did he freeze my body? I couldn't even look down to see.

"Skye!" Gray yelled, ruining the moment. He sent a pillar of ice at my attacker, sending the Maire guild member flying. I turned my head and saw him hit the wall and crumple to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Gray questioned. "Skye? Skye!" He started to shake my shoulders.

I finally turned to face the ice make wizard. I could feel my entire body starting to shake. I could barely stand. I didn't know what that guy did to me, but one thing was for sure; that could never happen again.

We took him back to one of our makeshift jail cells in the back of the guild hall and tied him up using the same kind of ropes that we'd used on Saphira. We detained his bird and kept him in an ice cage, courtesy of Gray, out in the hall. Happy kept suspiciously eying the bird as if he wanted to attack it.

"Happy?" Mirajane asked. "Can you do me a favor and not eat the bird?"

"Why don't you come with me to the cell with the exceed in it?" Pantherlily asked. "I'll question her and you can guard the door."

"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed. "Let me go get a proper weapon!"

Happy ran off and soon returned wielding his weapon; the mighty plastic spork. Pantherlily glared in Happy's direction. I nearly failed to contain my laughter at the sight.

"That's your weapon?" Lily criticized.

"I tried to take a steak knife," Happy explained, "but Lucy wouldn't let me. I was not about to challenge her."

"Okay you two," Gray said, trying not to laugh, "let us know if you need any help or anything."

They walked off, Lily still shaking his head at the sight of guard Happy.

"Who's going to interrogate this clown?" Gray asked, pointing towards the room with the new Maire guild captive.

"I'll go," I tried to say. However, no sound managed to escape. Thankfully, Mirajane came in to save the day.

"Why don't you two go in?" she asked. "I'll go check in with everyone else and then I'll come back to help you out."

"Okay, that should work," Gray agreed. Rather than challenge the power of my questionable vocal cords, I just nodded my approval of the plan. Dear God; the guy wasn't even in the room and he still managed to have me under some sort of spell.

She walked away, leaving just Gray and me to discuss our verbal battle plan.

"What should we ask him?" I miraculously managed to say.

"We already know that he's from the same problematic guild that Saphira originates from," Gray started. "They were probably here either as a rescue attempt for Saphira or to try to execute the malicious plan that brought her here in the first place. Either way, this guy is our enemy."

"We can ask him more questions about his guild's intentions," I added. "We can even ask questions that Saphira already answered just to test how honest he's willing to be. We still have to wait for the magic ropes to determine what magic he's used on them."

"We'd also have to keep in mind that he could be altered like Saphira," Gray reminded. "I can only imagine what extra abilities he was given."

We stayed in the hallway as we heard the annoyed sounds of failed escape attempts from the cell. It was evident that we'd have ample information on his powers. A not so gentle breeze escaped the room.

"Wind magic," Gray muttered, "like Wendy."

"If Saphira, a genetically altered fire dragon slayer, was sent to kill Natsu," I speculated, "then what if this guy was supposed to be sent after Wendy?"

"Why are they only targeting dragon slayers?" Gray asked. "And who was supposed to be sent for Gajeel?"

"Well, think about it," I explained. "The dragon slayers are among the strongest members of our guild. If anyone wanted to attack us, the dragon slayers would be a huge risk to the success of their plan. Maybe this was supposed to be a preventative measure; take out the threat before they could become a threat."

"And Gajeel?" Gray questioned.

"He and Levy just left for a job," I continued. "Depending on the timing of the dark guild's attack, he may not be a threat since he's not here."

"That makes sense," Gray chuckled. "After being around Natsu so much, I forgot that not everyone is a hotheaded idiot."

"Thanks," I replied, "I think."

"We should probably go check on the ropes," Gray suggested. "Do you want to hold him down, or analyze the ropes?"

"I'll just analyze," I said quickly.

"You're not afraid of him, are you?" Gray teased.

"Of course not!" I defended. I could feel my cheeks start to blush. "I just think it would be best that I be the one to analyze the ropes since I was one of the people that created them."

I looked past Gray's shoulder down the hall as I saw the blue cat reach his head out the door. "She loves him!" he yelled down toward us. At this point, I would be surprised if my face wasn't the color of Saphira's hair.

"Oh shut it, you spork wielding fluff ball!" I yelled at the exceed. "Let's just go analyze the ropes."

We entered the room to see our captive heavily breathing and looking exhausted. Either he had expended almost all his energy in his escape attempts, or he's a really good actor. After seeing Saphira's conniving ruse before, I honestly can't be sure.

"Help me get the ropes off of him, Gray," I instructed.

"Bossy, bossy," Gray joked.

"Just shut up and do it," I responded.

"Feisty. Maybe Saphira is rubbing off on you," Gray retorted.

"How can she rub off on me when the only person she talks to is Natsu?" I questioned.

"Why is it that she only talks to him?" Gray asked.

"How should I know?" I answered. "This isn't the time or place for this conversation anyway. Focus!"

"Yes, ma'am," Gray mocked.

I took the ropes that we had already untied and stood in front of the door while Gray unknotted the last of them. As the last rope went slack, I noticed the subtle change of the captive's footing. I backed out of the door slowly, bracing for his next attempt at escape. I transferred all the rope to my left hand.

Everything seemed to have moved in slow motion. He pushed Gray out of the way and started toward me. I conjured a wall of water to block the doorway, hoping that Gray would catch on and freeze the barrier. Through my hydro barricade, I found myself staring deep into his steely eyes yet again, and he froze in his tracks.

I felt both fearful and calm at the same time. His eyes refused to leave mine, even as Gray tackled him to the ground. Now wearing ice cuffs, the prisoner was returned to his seat. I allowed Gray to pass through the water wall so that he rejoined me in the hallway. He turned stared at the blockade as he sluggishly leaned against the wall.

"What the hell was that?" Gray asked as he tried to catch his breath. "He didn't even try to get through your barrier. And why did you use magic instead of closing the door?"

"I have no clue," I answered. "I didn't expect him to stop. And he could've just opened the door. Magic gave me some control over who comes and goes."

We both stared into the room in disbelief. I had half expected him to run, but why would he stop partway through his getaway? I turned my focus to ropes in my hand.

"Any results yet?" Gray questioned.

"Nothing yet," I responded.

I looked down the hall and saw Mirajane venturing towards us. I continued to analyze the ropes at she and Gray talked.

"How is everyone?" Gray asked.

"Everyone's okay," Mirajane assured. "The woman Erza was fighting managed to get away. Natsu and Saphira were sent to retrieve her. We have two wizards and an exceed in our custody for questioning."

"Makarov trusted Saphira to go out to find her old guild's leader?" Gray inquired.

"He says it's supposed to be a test," Mirajane explained. "If she doesn't betray Natsu and doesn't run away, then she'll be allowed to join Fairy Tail. After all, Makarov is big on second chances, especially when people don't realize the full extent of what they're doing," she finished with a glare in Gray's direction. "And besides, I doubt she'd betray Natsu after everything he'd shown her this past week."

Gray nervously chuckled. "Hey Skye. How's it going over there?" he asked to divert Mirajane's attention to me.

"Just about done," I responded. "So far, the readings mostly consist of air magic, as you'd expect given his little windstorm tantrum earlier. There are a few weird things though." I furrowed my brow in frustration at the almost indecipherable results.

"Weird how?" Mirajane questioned.

"Things you wouldn't expect a wind wizard to be able to do," I explained. "If he's anything like Saphira, he's probably been genetically altered as well. These confusing readings could be a result of his extra abilities."

"What sort of capabilities does he have?" Gray inquired.

"According to the ropes, he possesses some sort of manipulation magic," I started. "It seems like he tried to control the ropes."

"What does manipulation have to do with wind magic?" Mirajane asked.

"I have no idea," I answered. "But we'd better be careful if he tries to use his manipulation on any of us."

"What if that's what he did to you earlier? When he grabbed your wrist?" Gray asked concerned.

"That explains why I couldn't move. He grabbed my hand and my whole body froze," I remembered. "Ready to go in?"

Gray nodded to me and I momentarily took down the water wall. Gray walked into the room, leaving Mirajane and myself alone in the hallway.

"Have you been able to talk to the new girl at all?" Mirajane asked to put an end to our silence.

"No," I responded, "I haven't talked to her."

"Seems like you two would have a lot to discuss," she continued, "considering your necklaces. Not to mention your birthmarks. And the fact that you look the same."

"Natsu's too busy being a tour guide for anyone to have a genuine conversation with the girl," I muttered.

"True enough," she concurred. "What do you think of the two of them?"

"It's obvious that there's something there," I responded.

"I wonder how long it will take for those two to notice that," she added.

I looked up and saw Gray staring at us through the water, trying to signal for me to let him out. He was obviously angry, and I'm surprised that he didn't have smoke coming out of his ears.

"If someone else wants to deal with that stubborn prick, be my guest," he grumbled.

Mirajane used her magic to turn into her Satan Soul form, smirking at the cell. "Let me handle him. He tried to threaten our guild. He needs to talk," she said as she entered the room. I could see our prisoner's eyes nearly bulge out of his head in fear. I raised my hand and reinstalled the water into its place in the doorframe so that we wouldn't have to hear his cries for mercy.

"I know he's the bad guy and all," Gray explained, "but isn't sending Satan Soul on him kinda overkill?"

"You made the offer for one of us to go in," I responded. "She just beat me to it."

Though we couldn't hear anything through the water, we both stared in awe at the torment taking place in front of us. He seemed to be keeping quiet, which just made Mirajane's torture even worse.

I couldn't take it. This guy deserves an interrogation, not cruel and unusual punishment via demon. I retracted the water wall yet again and entered the room.

"Mirajane," I said firmly, "I think that's enough."

She turned with such intensity in her eyes that I couldn't tell whether Mirajane heard me or if the Satan Soul tuned everything out and merely regarded me as an annoyance. I refused to back down and subject this poor boy to the various forms of torture that his future would entail. Something in her eyes softened and I realized that Mirajane was in control. She changed back into her normal form.

"Your turn, Skye," she said kindly as she walked back into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

"Consider yourself lucky," I said to the captive. "I stopped her before she brought out the other Satan Souls."

"Thanks," he grumbled, "but I still don't have to talk to you. You have no leverage."

"That may be true," I concurred. "But remember; we have many ferocious exceeds that would love to play with your little bird friend out there."

He furrowed his brow as he considered my remark. "You mean the blue fluff ball with the spork?" he chuckled.

"Just remember what he said about going after a steak knife first," I retorted. He was noticeably chattier with me than with Mira or Gray. I figured it was a good sign and that I should start asking questions.

"What's your name?" I asked him. "Mine's Skye," I added. I figured that if I opened up to him, he may do the same for me.

"Kade," he muttered quietly. "My turn to ask a question."

I tried to hide my confusion. "I don't think that's how this whole thing works," I responded.

"Says who?" he retorted.

"Anyone who's ever conducted an interrogation?" I answered.

"Well," he began, "we either do it this way, or you can leave in frustration like your little boyfriend out there did."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I answered instantly. Realizing that I answered that too quickly, I decided to shut my mouth and allow him to continue.

"Does he know that?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Fine we'll do it your way," I said, purposefully avoiding the question.

"I thought you'd see it my way," he said.

"Why is your guild targeting Fairy Tail?" I asked.

"You're a dark guild. You must be eliminated," he stated. "Why do you look so much like Saphira?"

"Who told you that? And I don't actually know," I responded.

"It's way beyond weird, and Lavond," he said. "Why is Saphira hanging around Natsu so much?"

"I'm also not sure of that," I said. "Why don't you guys have guild marks?"

"Why do you guys?" he retorted.

"It's a symbol of pride for our guild," I stated figuring that was common knowledge. "Who are you targeting?" I asked.

"Wendy Marvell," he responded. "Why did you guys take Saphira's dragon?"

"We didn't," I said remembering he still believed the lies.

"Where is Lavond?" he asked suddenly looking more intense.

"Hey now!" I exclaimed. "You can't ask two questions in a row!"

"So you are paying attention," he muttered. "If you answer, then I'll answer twice to make up for it."

"Fine. Natsu and Saphira are searching for her," I answered, "She escaped. Any idea where we would find her?"

"Maire guild base camp," he responded. "But I imagine that she wouldn't stay long. Just collecting supplies and then running away."

"What is Lavond's magic?" I asked.

"She uses Darkness Magic," he retorted. "Be careful not to underestimate her; her magic is stronger than any other wizard out there. She can even manipulate a person's inner darkness and make them fight for her."

"She can manipulate anyone?" I inquired, hoping that he wasn't counting my questions.

"For the most part," he responded. "It's easier to control those who are already struggling with their internal sense of dark and light, though."

_Saphira…_ I thought panicked.

I started to blank out again as memories flooded over me.

_My father opened the door and I saw numerous Council Members standing on our front porch._

"_Come in," my father said coolly. "Shall we talk in the office?" He offered as he led them toward the back room. _

"_Girls, stay here," the nanny instructed as she rose to join the adults._

"_Can you hear them, Rhi?" I asked innocently. She'd always had better senses than me._

"'_She's too powerful,' one of the Council Member is explaining," Rhi said in a trance. "'We must remove her before she becomes a danger to society,' he finished. Dad is trying to argue with them. I think they're coming out here!"_

_The Council Members exited the room. As they passed through the dining room, I saw one of them turn to us. _

"_Enjoy your last few days of freedom, Rhiannon," he said to my sister. "We'll be back."_

I came to my senses again and ran out the door, passing Gray and Mirajane who both looked utterly confused. I could hear them start after me.

"We have to get to Saphira before they find Lavond," I explained as I ran through the guild hall. "Natsu's in trouble if Lavond gets near Saphira."

I ran out the back door and into the forest with Gray and Mirajane still on my tail. Remembering the reaction my gem had earlier to Saphira, I tried to use the faint heat emanating from the stone as a compass towards her. Though I didn't quite understand why my necklace was doing this, I trusted it and its magic as my guide. I had to save her and Natsu.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five — Saphira

After the battle reached its conclusion, all of my fellow guild mates were captured aside from Lavond, who in a desperate attempt to save herself, ran off into the woods.

"C'mon," Natsu ordered, "we need to go see Makarov."

We ventured across the room and stood in front of the master. Mirajane came over to us and asked me where I wanted my guild mark. I pointed to my left forearm, and she stamped me with an outline of the Fairy Tail symbol. "This shows that you're on probation. If you prove your loyalty to the guild, it'll fill in on it's own," she explained.

"Now go find the wizard," Makarov instructed. "You know what to do, Natsu."

Natsu nodded and led me out the back. He looked nervous and he almost seemed worried.

"Is everything alright?" I asked looking up at him.

"I don't know yet," Natsu said and undid the ropes that bound our wrists together. I paused and contemplated running, but, after further contemplation, I realized that there was nothing for me out there.

Using our combined sense of smell, we started in Lavond's direction, careful not to expend all of our energy before the fight even began.

I ducked behind a tree and spotted Lavond in the distance. She was at the Maire guild base camp gathering her things before she ran off for good. She either didn't know we were here or didn't care because she continued to collect her materials.

I was so focused on Lavond that I didn't hear the rampaging footsteps hastily making their way toward us.

"Saphira!" I heard Skye's faint voice scream out.

I snuck behind the tree as Lavond turned her head to the noise. Even from this distance I could tell she was smirking. "Nice try, traitor!" she yelled in my direction. "Good luck catching up."

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. My temper was flaring at the interruption as I turned to face the others.

Natsu grabbed my arm before I could get too far. "I'm sure they were just trying to help," he stated quietly.

"A lotta good that did," I muttered back. "Now she knows we're following her, and she's had time to get away."

Gray, Mirajane, and Skye finally caught up to us, all three panting. "You have to be careful around her, Saphira," Skye explained.

"And why would I need to be careful?" I questioned cynically.

"She can control you with her Darkness Magic," she replied.

"Skye," I murmured. "I've been training with Lavond for 11 years now. I think I understand the capabilities of her magic better than you." Skye's face went blank as she realized how unnecessary her contribution was. "Now we get to go find her all over again."

"Well at least there's more of us to try and find her," Mirajane added. "We can split up and hopefully find her sooner."

The leaves rustled and we all braced ourselves and turned toward the sound. I saw a gray snout stick out from the brush and I heard a muffled _arff_. The mangy wolf pup continued out from its hiding place as we all relaxed. The pup sniffed at my leg, then promptly plopped onto my right foot.

I rolled my eyes at the demented wolf. "Moon Moon," I asked as I raised the pup into my arms, "why are you here instead of with Melodia?"

He whimpered quietly at me. "We can't just leave him," I explained. "You guys did capture Melodia after their rescue attempt, right?" Mirajane nodded at me. "Good. We can use Moon Moon to our advantage if she doesn't talk."

"She named it Moon Moon?" Skye criticized.

"Maire guild members aren't exactly the best at coming up with names for animals," I clarified.

"So what's the plan?" Gray questioned. "Are we splitting up to try and find her?"

"I can take the cute pup back to the guild hall," Mirajane offered as she reached for the dog.

"That would work," Natsu agreed. "We should probably set up camp for the night. It's starting to get dark, and you guys still look exhausted," he added gesturing toward Skye and Gray.

I set Moon Moon gently on the ground and he started to wobble toward Mira. The poor pup unfortunately ended up diverting his course and smashing into a tree before he got all the way to her.

We parted ways with Mira and the pup and we ventured on through the forest, trying to scout out a good camp site. We found a clearing that was near to a river and decided to set up there. Gray and Skye went to go fetch water while Natsu and I set up a fire.

"C'mon we need to go get firewood," Natsu said scanning the woods for fallen trees.

"But I don't wanna," I pouted and laid down on the ground.

"Who said I was giving you a choice, Sapphire?" he asked smirking at me.

Something about that smirk made it almost impossible for me to breathe, and made my heart beat a mile per minute. I tried to slow it down because I knew all too well how easy it was for a dragon slayer to hear.

"My name's Saphira, not Sapphire," I said and crossed my arms.

"Ever heard of a nickname?" he responded sarcastically.

"You can't make me go with you," I challenged.

"Wanna bet?" he asked his eyes locked on me.

I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to respond. On one hand, I really didn't want to get up, and on the other I was very curious to see how he planned to go about "making me" do anything I didn't want to do.

I wasn't curious for very long however because apparently he took my silence as a "go for it" and proceeded with his plan. He picked me up and started carrying my off towards the woods.

"Natsu!" I shrieked half horrified and half laughing.

"What?" he asked, his smirk still plastered to his face. "I told you I could make you."

"Put me down!" I said, not sounding nearly as demanding as I had intended to.

"Hmm, I don't think so," he said and adjusted his grip.

"Why can't you just let me walk?" I asked still laughing.

"Because I know if I put you down, you'll run away," he said.

"No, I wouldn't!" I exclaimed.

"Really?" he said, very evidently not believing me.

"I wouldn't!" I exclaimed.

He was right; I did plan on running back to camp. But only because I wanted to see what he would do.

"Fine," he said and put me down on the ground.

I ran off almost instantly weaving around trees, and looking for a place to hide from him.

"If we're playing hide and seek, you're gonna lose," he said as he looked around the woods for me.

"Yeah, right," I muttered and poked my head around the tree I had hidden behind.

"Yeah, I am right," I heard his voice say coming from behind me.

Within milliseconds of hearing his voice, I felt his hands on my shoulders, pinning me against the tree.

I turned around to see Natsu's face only but a few inches away from mine. I felt my heart start racing and once again I couldn't breathe.

"I can actually feel your heart racing, Sapphire," he said with a smirk. "Do I make your nervous?"

"No," I responded far too quickly.

He got closer and whispered in my ear, "How about now?"

"N-no," I stuttered, my face turning red and my hair burning brightly.

I wanted so badly to just lean forward and kiss him; it took everything in me not to. Only but a moment later I realized my restraint was pointless. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. I could feel heat radiating throughout my body, and every thought that was previously buzzing in my head had vanished without a trace. At first I was just shocked and didn't quite know how to respond but the closer he got to me the harder it was to resist him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and supported my body weight against the tree allowing the kiss to go on. To be honest, everything after that is a bit hard to remember, but I remember hearing Gray's voice echoing through the woods. He pulled away and locked his eyes on mine. He seemed almost as surprised by what just happened as I was.

"Weren't we supposed to be getting firewood?" I asked him laughing a little.

"Yeah, uh, we should probably do that," he said rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah," I said and we looked for dead branches and other burnable items.

Our results weren't quite as fruitful as we had anticipated but we came back with enough to start and keep a fire going for the night. When we returned we found Skye and Gray trying to thaw some fish that were trapped in little blocks of ice.

"Where have you two been?" Gray asked his attention now focused on us rather than his fishsicles.

"Getting wood," I stated unable to make eye contact with him in fear that he'd figure out what just happened.

"It took you an hour to find that much wood?" Skye questioned in disbelief.

"Yup," I said and tossed the wood on the ground in between Skye and Gray.

I walked over to the stream and watched the water flow by as I mentally recapped today's events. I couldn't get him kissing me out of my head, and I was pretty sure I didn't want to. I didn't know what to make of it. I knew I wasn't supposed to let my emotions cloud my head but even after he stopped touching me I could still feel my skin tingling where it had once came in contact with his.

I couldn't get him out of my head in general, but I had to dismiss these feelings. I convinced myself that it was a one time thing and that regardless of my feelings, I had to focus and keep training.

"Did something happen?" I heard Gray ask Natsu.

"You could say that," he responded.

"What did you do!" Skye scolded.

"Nothin bad," he stated.

"Then why is she exiling herself?" Skye accused.

"How should I know?" he rebutted and started constructing the skeleton for our fire.

I could hear her start to venture toward me. I picked up a couple of smooth river rocks and tried to skip them across the stream. The crimson gem embedded in my choker necklace started to glow and build up heat.

"Can't you tell when someone wants to be alone?" I challenged as I threw my next stone.

"Can't you tell when people want to help you?" she retorted as she came up beside me.

"Why bother?" I asked her. "Don't pretend like you care about me. Barely anyone has even given me a second glance since I've been here."

"I want to know more about you," she explained. "I want to help you fit in, but you can't do that if you continually ignore people. You have to let these people get to know you if you want them to accept you. Open up and let them ask you questions without getting defensive."

"Then go ahead," I said as I sat down on the side of the stream. "Ask me anything."

"Tell me about how you grew up," she asked as she sat next to me. "Tell me about Feu."

"My parents abandoned me when I was little. Feu was the only one who bothered to care for me. She raised me as her own and taught me my dragon slayer magic. And then she just went away. I thought I knew who took her, but I was evidently very wrong."

"Who told you your parents just abandoned you?"

"Lavond. Why?"

"What if that was a lie too?" she whispered nervously.

"Well, it's the only story I have, so I'm sticking with it."

"Have you considered-" she started.

"Just stop," I interrupted. "I've considered everything. With everything I've found out about Lavond, I know very well that my current belief could be wrong. I understand that someone could've kidnapped me and given me to Feu. I understand that it could've not been my parents' fault. But it doesn't matter, Skye. The fact is I grew up without a family, and that's not something you go around bragging about."

She sat in silence as she took in what I had said. I felt her hand land on my arm in an attempt at comforting me. The instant that her skin touched mine, my vision of the stream went black and was replaced with a blurry memory.

"_Rhi, you were told never to do that again!" I heard a man's voice scream as I watched the tree in front of me catch fire._

"_I didn't mean to," I responded choking back tears._

"_Why do you never listen to me? Why can't you be normal like your sister?" he scolded._

"_Because I'm not her!" I yelled back._

"_Don't talk back to me like that! I am your father and you will respect me!" he continued to scream at me._

_I could feel the heat swelling up inside of me. I tried to choke back the tears but it was getting hard to control the rage that was burning inside of me._

"_Stop!" I interrupted his ranting._

_He continued to yell and compare me to her which just made it even harder to control my rage._

"_I SAID STOP!" I screamed and outstretched my arms. Fire shot out of my hands abruptly, like a bullet from the barrel of a gun._

"_RHI! NO!" I heard a voice similar to that of mine call out to me as someone wrapped their arms around me from behind._

_It was too late. At that point, the fire had already found its way to a bush next to the house I was standing in front of. The house caught fire and all I could do was stand there and watch the flames slowly devouring one wall at a time._

_Then the scene morphed and I was laying on a couch in a house unknown to me. Next to me was the girl I presumed to be the sister my father was comparing me to. While it infuriated me to be compared to her, I loved her more than anyone. _

"_It wasn't your fault, Rhi," she stated. "You didn't mean to hurt anyone."_

_She was dressed from head to toe in black and I could tell by how swollen her eyes were that she had been crying._

"_I'm a monster," I responded._

"_No you're not. You loved mom just as much as the rest of us. You didn't mean to hurt her," she said and wiped away the tear that had escaped and was rolling down my cheek. _

"_Where is she?" I heard an unfamiliar voice question from the other room._

"_In there. She has the red necklace," I heard my father's voice return. _

_A strange man came in and looked between my sister and I. He scooped me up off the couch and threw me over his shoulder._

"_Bri! Help!" I cried out as he took me away._

_She charged after him and latched onto his leg._

"_Give me back my sister!" she screamed and punched his leg._

_Given that at that time we were only about five or six, it didn't do a whole lot to deter him._

"_BRIANNA! NO!" my father scolded and tore her off of the man's leg. _

_He set her back on her feet and gripped her arm so tightly I could see the skin where he had hold of her was turning red. She cried out in pain but continued to come after me._

"_DON'T TOUCH HER!" I raged and I felt my body literally combust. My father loosened his grip on her arm slightly and stared at me in horror._

"_BRING BACK MY SISTER!" Bri wailed, tears streaming down her face._

"_SHE KILLED YOUR MOTHER! SHE'S A MONSTER!" he yelled at her. "She's the reason we had to bury your mother today. She brought this on herself."_

_Slowly, as the man walked on, it became harder and harder to hear or see either of them. _

"_PUT ME DOWN!" I screeched._

_The last thing I remember was the man smashing my head off of a wall and everything going black._

I awoke from the memories gasping for air. I looked over and saw tears leaking out of Skye's eyes. It was obvious that she had just experienced the same visions. "You're Rhi…?" she whispered as she retracted her hand from my shoulder.

"I-I don't know," I quietly responded.

"I do," she stated as she stood up. Her anger was apparent and I could see the water in front of me reacting to her rage. The stream's gentle current turned violent as Skye balled her fists. She turned to me with an accusing look in her eye. She pointed her finger at me after every accusation. "You're Rhiannon. You're the reason I grew up with an abusive dad and a dead mother. You're the reason that I had to change my name and teach myself magic. You may have grown up without a family, but at least you had someone who loved you!"

I was at a loss for words. I struggled to stand as she stepped into the water creating a barrier around herself. I could hear the boys running toward me, but I didn't have the strength to face them. Natsu came up behind me and tried shaking my arm. I could hear his muffled screams as he tried to break my trance, but my brain was too busy processing everything to really notice. I saw Gray trying to coax Skye out of her water orb.

I could tell it had started raining, but the only drops of water I felt were the warm tears that had escaped my eyes and were trailing down my cheeks.

Overwhelmed and full of regret, I ran off deeper into the woods. I couldn't face her knowing that I killed our mother. I told myself I could never go back there and that it didn't matter that I was leaving Natsu, because he was better off without me anyways. All of them were better off without me, especially Skye. I already ruined enough of her life. I kept running until I deemed myself far enough away to not hurt anyone else. I climbed up a tree and curled up on one of its thicker branches. Tears continued rolling down my face as I processed what i had done.

"My dad was right; I am a monster," I whispered to myself as I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tightly. For the first time in what seems like forever, I felt cold. It felt like there was ice water flowing through my veins as opposed to blood. I felt empty and alone. Being alone wasn't abnormal for me. In fact, I was alone most of the time, but this is the first time I've ever really felt lonely. I'd always felt like someone was always waiting for me. Be it Feu, Luna, Lavond or even Kade, I was never fully alone. Until that moment.

"Whatcha doin' up there Sapphire?" I heard Natsu's voice call from below where I was perched in the tree.

"Natsu?" I asked and looked down to the ground.

To my surprise there he stood staring up at me through spiky pink hair.

"What are you doing here?" I asked taken aback a bit by his presence.

"I had to make sure you were okay," he said and started to climb up the tree.

"Why do you care?" I asked in disbelief.

"You're one of us now," he responded with a smile.

"Did you not figure out why Skye freaked out on me? I'm the reason my mother is dead. I don't deserve to be consoled," I responded, feeling the tears swell up in my eyes once again.

"No, I heard her telling Gray. That's not your fault though. If it's anyone's fault, it's your dad's," he rebutted.

"He didn't light the house on fire," I muttered more to myself than to him.

"You were, like, five. You had no idea how to control your power. Do you really think your mom would want you to blame yourself?" he said finally reaching my branch.

"Skye hates me," I said staring at the ground below wishing that it wasn't true.

"She don't hate you, Sapphire. She was just overwhelmed and upset. She'll come along," he said and draped his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm not going back," I responded forcing out the words robotically.

"Why is that?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"You're all better off without me," I responded as a tear rolled off my cheek onto Natsu's hand.

"Hey, now. None of that," he said and wiped away the tear. "If you really want to do what's best for Fairy Tail, then come back with me."

"No matter what I do, I always find a way to screw everything up. I can't do that to Fairy Tail," I said and covered my face with my hands.

Natsu wrapped both of his arms around me and pulled me close to him. Resting his head against mine, he looked down at me.

"Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without you, Sapphire," he said as he pushed the curtain of blonde hair covering my right eye behind my ear.

I wanted to believe him more than anything. I wanted to just grab his hand and go back to the guild hall, but I knew that wherever I went, darkness and destruction followed. I refused to do anymore damage. Anyone I cared for got hurt, or worse, and I couldn't do that to Natsu. I would never be able to forgive myself.

"I'm not good for the guild, or you. There's darkness inside of me and I can't control it," I said and started to get up to run off again.

Natsu grabbed my hand and pulled my back down. Before I even had time to process what had happened, he kissed me. My eyes drifted shut and it was almost impossible to remember what I had intended to do. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was using mind control because I couldn't move a damn muscle and the only thing that I wanted in that moment was for it to never end.

"Awe, how touching," I heard a female's voice mock.

He pulled away and we both looked around for the voice.

"Down here, Saphira," she sang.

I ejected my wings and claws and flew down to the ground searching for the woman.

"You know, I've never seen you use your wings before," the voice commented. "You don't seem to use them much."

From behind one of the trees Lavond emerged. She wore a dark purple dress that was paired with black high heels and her dragon claw necklace. Her long black hair was down, laying in loose waves cascading down her back.

"What do you want?" Natsu demanded as he hopped down from his branch.

"I've come back to reclaim what belongs to me," she stated very matter of factly.

"And that is?" Natsu questioned.

"Her," she stated and pointed at me.

"I belong to no one!" I growled.

"Oh but you do! You owe me your life, or has the dragon slayer made you forget that?" she returned.

"You only saved me so that you could use me for your own petty desires," I spat.

"Is that really what they've told you, Saphira?" she asked soothingly. "Have you forgotten who raised you after your parents abandoned you? After they took away Feu?"

"LIES!" I screamed venomously.

"Sapphire, don't listen to her," Natsu instructed.

"He doesn't even know your name, Saphira," Lavond started. "Why should you trust him?"

"Why should I trust you?!" I asked back. "If everything surrounding my family was a lie, how many other lies have you forced me to believe?"

"I thought we could settle this the easy way," Lavond explained. "But it's quite obvious that these imbeciles have filled your brain with falsehoods and propaganda. Maybe this will help you remember whose side you're really on."

She lifted her hand in my direction as a swirling vortex of darkness shot my way. I could feel the magic writhing against my skin as it tried to take hold. Every good thought of Fairy Tail exited my mind in a flash. All I was left with were the murderous thoughts I'd had weeks ago. I turned to face Natsu before the darkness completely swallowed me and my will.

"Run," I choked out as my vision blanked and Lavond's power took full control.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six — Skye

"_This isn't real,"_ I thought as I surrounded myself in my protective orb. "_Rhiannon is dead. Mom is dead. I am all alone."_

These thoughts kept swirling around in my head. For the past twelve years, I had come to terms with that statement. _I am all alone._

Sure, Dad was still alive, but he's an abusive drunk who spends more time confusing me with Rhi than actually parenting. The only time Dad was sober was when we were too broke for him to finance his habit, and that only made his attitude and his abuse worse.

He blamed me for Mom's death. He spent so much time in a drunken stupor that he actually had himself convinced that I was Rhiannon, the girl with way too much firepower. I loved my sister, but always being treated as though her faults were my own has greatly changed my opinion of her.

A couple years ago, I'd decided I'd had enough. I left my father and changed my name. Brianna was no more; I was to become Skye Aqua, water mage, if I ever wanted to escape him and my torment. I taught myself magic from the textbooks I'd managed to secure and I'd found my way to Fairy Tail. I had to begin again; I had to leave it all behind; I had to forget my past.

And now that past has come back to haunt me. I had my suspicions about why Saphira and I look so similar, but it's evident now that I was no where near prepared to face the truth.

Saphira is my lost twin.

Saphira is Rhiannon.

Saphira killed our mother.

"_Skye!" _I hear Gray yell to me. He was hitting his fist against my barrier, but I can't bring myself to let down what little protection I have against Saphira."_Skye, please! Let me help you!"_ he continues pleading.

With one final blow from Gray, I could feel my barricade collapse and disperse back into the stream. The rain poured viciously and I could feel each individual drop attack my skin. I was on my hands and knees in the shallow water, grabbing at my neck where my sapphire charm resided.

"Skye," Gray said concerned as he knelt beside me. He rested his hand soothingly on my back. "What happened?"

I raised my head and met his gaze. "I know why Saphira and I look so alike."

"That's great!" he said. "One less mystery for us to solve."

"No, it's not great," I explained. "I never told you about my past, did I?" he shook his head. I crawled over to the edge of the water and sat down.

"My name isn't Skye," I started. "My name is Brianna Parker. We weren't all that wealthy growing up, but we were pretty well off. It was just the four of us; Mom, Dad, me, and Rhiannon, my mirror twin. We did everything together. But then Mom died and everything changed.

"Rhi had accidentally set our aunt's house on fire while we were visiting them. The only one inside was Mom. It was an accident; she was a very powerful fire wizard and Dad couldn't find a teacher that would stick around for very long. She was just trying to show our cousins her magic, and she lost control. A bush caught fire and she and Dad were yelling and then next thing you know, the house was on fire. Mom didn't make it out.

"A couple days later, we were visited by the Council. They threatened to take her away, but Dad bought her some time. They let her stay for Mom's funeral, and then they took my sister away, calling her a menace and saying that she'll never be able to exist as a 'normal person.'

"Dad didn't handle it very well. He was angry and sad about losing Mom, and he turned to alcohol. We lost all of our money to his addiction. But the worst part was that I was alone. Dad would get drunk and abuse me both verbally and physically. He'd call me Rhiannon and say it was all my fault. After already losing my mother and my sister, I couldn't bear to see my father like that. That's why I had to run away.

"I was only about twelve or thirteen at the time. I grabbed some of Dad's books about magic and as much money as I could manage to find. I taught myself water magic, thinking that it was the most opposite to what caused me to lose everything. I found comfort in it, but I didn't get by very well without a source of income. I'd heard about guilds and thought it would be best if I joined one. That's how I found Fairy Tail.

"It was pretty rundown at the time, but it was the only guild that would take in an inexperienced runaway wizard like me, so I started calling it home. I changed my name so that my dad wouldn't find me, and that worked. Well, it worked until now, when everything started catching up to me."

Gray sat in silence as he processed everything. "So Saphira-" he started.

"-is Rhiannon," I finished. I brought my knees closer to my chest, thinking that it would help me hold myself together.

"No wonder she ran off," Natsu added from the other side of the stream. He'd been so quiet for once that I'd forgotten he was still here. "I'm gonna go try and find her."

"So what's with the necklaces?" Gray asked, turning the focus back to me as Natsu started running away from us.

"My mother gave them to us when we were little," I remembered. "She said that as long as we wore them we'd never be truly alone. Some good they did," I scoffed.

I reached to the back of my neck and fiddled with the clasp on my necklace. My shaky fingers were reluctant to cooperate, but they eventually managed to free me from my jewelry. I took one long look at the beautiful sapphire gem embedded in the charm. It was an exquisite necklace, evidently enchanted by my mother. I used to see her every time I looked at the gem; now all I could see was the matching ruby belonging to her killer.

I stood up and threw the necklace upstream. It entered the water with a small splash and started to float down the current as it sank deeper into the water. "What are you doing?" Gray questioned as he stood up next to me.

"What purpose does it have?" I asked cynically. "It was supposed to make it so that I never felt alone, and it hasn't done anything of the sort." I turned my back to Gray. "I've been alone even since my mother died, and no stupid jewel will change that."

"Why are you blaming Saphira for that? It was an accident. You know she never meant to hurt anyone; you said it yourself," Gray asked as he walked closer to me.

"Whether it was on purpose or by accident, she's still the reason my life was hell for so many years," I rebutted angrily.

"You think her life was any better? She was just as alone as you were. She also just found out her whole life was a lie," he said now standing behind me.

He was right, while she was the reason my mother was dead, she had never intended to hurt me. It wasn't her fault that she had no one to teach her magic. I grew frustrated because I had nowhere to place my anger. I couldn't really blame Saphira for something she never meant to do.

"You know I'm right, Skye," he said still waiting for a response.

I didn't know what to do with all of my pent up frustration. Part of me wanted to scream and the other was so depressed it made me want to just give up and turn my brain off somehow. My body's solution to the turmoil was to start bawling my eyes out.

I turned around and buried my head in Gray's shoulder without thinking. At first it seemed like Gray didn't know how to react, but once it had processed he wrapped his arms around me as an attempt to comfort me.

"What have I done? I chased away the only real family I have left!" I cried remembering how I felt when I lost her the first time.

"Hey, it's okay. Natsu is gonna bring her back," Gray said and just held me tighter.

"What if it doesn't work and I lost her again?" I continued crying into his shoulder.

"It's gonna work. Natsu may be an idiot but he's good at this kind of stuff. Plus, she's rather obviously in love with him so it won't be hard for him to convince her."

"I'm such a screw up!" I sobbed. He cupped my face in his hand and made me look up at him.

"You're the farthest thing from a screw up humanly possible. You're perfect. At least you are to me," he said and kissed me on the forehead. Face glowing red, I paused for a minute, unsure of how to react. So I simply decided to follow my impulse. I stretched up onto my tiptoes and kissed him.

All of my problems felt as though they had just melted away. I couldn't remember the sadness or the pain of my past coming back to haunt me. Gray seemed startled at first, but eventually just gave in.

I pulled away and opened my eyes. I looked down and saw my necklace once again resting at my feet, the chain getting caught on a rock. The gem started to glow brightly as I reached down for the jewel. As my hand closed around it, I could feel heat emanating from it. "Saphira," I whispered absentmindedly.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked.

Before I could explain the enchanted necklaces, Natsu came rolling down the slight hill and into the water. "Sap fire n rubble!" he rambled incoherently.

"Woah. Slow down, there flame brain. What's going on?" Gray asked.

Though I knew Natsu was talking, my brain couldn't seem to comprehend his words. I glanced down at my gemstone yet again, and I closed my fist tighter around it. I shut my eyes and gathered my thoughts. Saphira's in trouble and this necklace can lead to her. My outburst was the reason that she ran off; I need to make sure that whatever's happening, she doesn't go through it alone.

I returned the choker to its rightful place around my necklace and took a deep breath. I opened my eyes and ran into the woods, using the the necklaces' enchantment as my guide. I could hear Gray yelling after me, but I didn't care. I needed to save my sister.

I ran for what seemed like forever. The heat given off by the sapphire steadily increased, alerting me that I was going in the right direction. I rounded a giant oak tree and spotted two figures about 100 feet in front of me. "Saphira?" I asked breathlessly.

I saw both of the women turn to face me. The second woman sized me up as Saphira continued to stare at the ground. "Look who decided to join us, Saphira," the woman flicked her hand and Saphira attention shifted from the forest floor to me.

Saphira looked immensely different. Her bright teal eyes had turned a murderous crimson as they stared me down. Her skin took on an ashen tone and was dotted with scarlet dragon scales. She flexed her dragon claws maniacally and she equipped her leathery dragon wings. The red tips of her hair were violently lighting ablaze as she donned a malicious smirk.

"What did you do to her?" I questioned angrily. I could faintly hear Natsu and Gray slowly catching up with me. I gathered the rain around me into swirling orbs surrounding each of my hands, ready for a fight.

"Now, why should I answer you, my threatening little raindrop?" the woman responded.

"You're Lavond, aren't you?" I asked.

"Good to see that my raindrop knows the name of her killer," Lavond stated cynically. "Saphira?"

I barely had time to guard myself before she attacked. She continually ran at me with fists of fury and flame as I attempted to talk some sense into her. I just have to hope that this was the work of Lavond's darkness and that I didn't cause this change of character.

"Saphira," I yelled in between blocks. "I don't...wanna hurt you...This isn't...you!"

I was quickly exhausting my magic. I could feel my power draining with every strike I absorbed. My reflexes were slowing; I was barely blocking her attacks. I don't know how long my power will be able to protect me.

"We don't have time for this. Finish her, Saphira," Lavond ordered from the sidelines.

Saphira's mouth stretched into a unnerving smile, displaying her dragon teeth in the process. She ignited her right hand in a mix of darkness and flames as she readied herself to attack. I was moving sluggishly and I could tell that this would be the last blow. I looked deep into Saphira's eyes.

"I'm sorry for everything," I managed to say. Her fist came down as she sent all of the darkened fire at me. I could feel myself flying through the air and the crushing impact as my body finally met the forest floor. My vision hazy, I could feel unconsciousness enveloping me.

"I love you, Rhi," was all I could whisper before my vision went black.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven — Saphira

Even though my eyes were open and my body had been interacting with other people, I was not awake.

I could see everything going on around me but it was as if there was a veil of darkness cloaking my eyes. As time went on the veil progressively faded away until my vision was restored to it's previous state.

"_I love you, Rhi,"_ I faintly heard a voice say.

Upon restoration of my sight, I saw something in the distance crumpled into a ball. It lied there, motionless, barely breathing. It wasn't until I looked down at my necklace, which was still glowing, that I figured out who it was. That lifeless lump was Skye, and, as she grew weaker, the connection between our jewels weakened along with her.

"Skye?" I implored her to respond.

Gray sprinted over to her and held her closely. Natsu stood guard in front of them as Gray analyzed Skye's condition.

"She's barely breathing," he stated.

The flames swelled inside of me, burning furiously, just waiting to be wielded.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Don't you recognize your own work?" Lavond questioned from behind me.

"What did you make me do?!" I raged as my head snapped back towards her.

My whole entire head of hair burst into flames as I ejected my needle-pointed claws yet again. My already sharp canines elongated into razor-sharp fangs. I could feel my skin morphing into dragon scales. I went into full dragon force, which I had done before, however this was different.

The power that coursed through my veins was darker, and more powerful than my usual. Dark thoughts and emotions accompanied the magic. I wanted to kill her for making me hurt my sister. I needed to make her pay for what she had done. Murderous thoughts swarmed furiously in my head like an agitated swarm of wasps.

Lavond was taken back a little by this form, which showed evidently on her face.

I advanced towards her slowly enjoying the fear spread across her face.

"But how are you able take on such a dark form?" she said trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"What's the matter, Lavond?" I taunted. "Don't you recognize your own work?"

Flames swelled in the palm of my hands. I watched her face contort in horror as she saw the combination of the scarlet and ebony flames burn in unison.

"It doesn't matter, you cocky little pyro. I still have my necklace," she taunted and grabbed ahold of the pendant dangling from the choker chain around her neck.

"Why should I be afraid of your necklace?" I questioned still slowly striding over to her.

"Do you not know why I obtained it?" she asked seeming rather pleased with herself.

"Because you have a shopping problem?" I stated bluntly.

"NO!" she exclaimed as her face reddened a bit. "It's there to weaken you."

"What are you gonna do; accessorize me to death?" I rebutted.

"No. The orb within the dragon's claws is filled with your blood," she responded.

"Well that's creepy," I responded. "Obsessed much?"

"NO! This pendant has magical properties that make it so I can control your power, using your own blood," she responded as my blood began to swirl around inside of the orb.

"How many of those exist?" I questioned.

"Just this one. It was specifically designed for you. Its the only one like it in existence," she bragged. "After genetically making you stronger, I had to ensure that I could still control you, after all."

"Cool. I guess I'll just have to tear it apart along with you," I responded and lunged at her.

My wings ejected mid jump and rocketed towards her at maximum speed. My body collided with hers, knocking her to the ground.

"Dark Grab!" Lavond yelled and created the shadow silhouette of a hand.

The hand's fingers wrapped around my torso and threw me backwards, sending me flying into Natsu.

"Sorry!" I yelled to Natsu as I sprinted off towards her again. "Fire Dragon, Wing Attack!"

My attack proved to be near ineffective, because of her anti-Saphira pendant weakening my flames.

"_I need to get that necklace off of her. I can't really use my magic against her until I do," _I thought to myself.

"You can't win Sapphire!" Lavond teased. "Just come home, where you belong."

"You don't get to call me that!" I yelled. "I'd sooner die alone in the woods."

I ran at her and tackled her to the ground. I reached for her necklace, hoping I could get it off with just one try. Luckily for me, the next thing that I heard after trying to rip it off her was the sound of the chain snapping.

"Natsu! Take this!" I yelled and threw it to him.

He caught it in his left hand and gripped it tightly, nodding to me in understanding.

"Don't break it," I demanded as I ignited the dark flames in the palms of my hands.

"I don't break everything!" he rebutted.

"Yes, you do," Gray responded.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled back at Gray.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" I announced and struck Lavond directly in the chest. She flew back and hit the ground.

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack," I yelled letting my anger strengthen my flames. "This is for Skye!" I growled as I struck her in the face.

She laid there unmoving, barely breathing. I ejected my claws and went to finish her off once and for all. I felt someone wrap their arms around me, pinning my arms to my side.

"You're with Fairy Tail now; we don't roll that way," Natsu whispered into my ear.

"She ruined my life. She hurt my sister. She deserves it," I answered, sounding as if I were begging him to let me.

"I know," he responded. "But you're not in a dark guild anymore. You can't do that."

I retracted my claws and wings and took a deep breath. My hair's brilliant blaze settled down to a gentle flame as I calmed myself down. Tears started falling from my eyes, thinking of all that I had lost.

He grabbed my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine.

"You have us now, Sapphire," he added. "You can start a new life, in Fairy Tail."

I turned back to Lavond, who had lifted her head to meet my gaze. "If I ever see your face around here again, so help me God, I will end you, and he won't be there to stop me," I spat venomously and then knocked her out cold.

I ran over to Skye and wrapped my arms around her. I laid my head against the top of hers and tried not to squeeze her too hard, in fear of hurting her more.

"I'm so sorry; that wasn't me. Well it was, but it wasn't," I rambled trying formulate an intelligible sentence.

"I know. I'm just glad I didn't lose you again," she said quietly and attempted to grab my hand.

"Why wouldn't you want that? All I do is hurt people," I rebutted.

"No. None of that was your fault. You never meant to hurt anyone," she coughed.

"I love you, sis," I choked out and hugged her a bit tighter.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

"Uhm, Sapphire?" Natsu asked sounding concerned.

"Yes?" I responded.

"You're bleeding a little bit," he elaborated as he pointed at my torso. "We should take you back to the guild hall and get you both medical help."

I looked down at my torso and saw a large laceration spanning from my hip to right below my bust line.

"Oh," I murmured and wiped away some of the blood secreting from the wound.

"Oh?" Natsu laughed. "That's all you have to say for an injury of that severity?"

"Eh, I'll live," I said and put pressure on the wound with my hand.

"Can you even walk?" I asked Skye.

"I don't think so," she responded sounding weak.

"Someone needs to carry her then," Natsu stated.

I scowled slightly at that thought. I couldn't help but get kind of angry at the thought of Natsu carrying her the whole way back. Gray made the same facial expression.

"Are you okay, guys?" Skye asked. "You suddenly look upset about something."

"I'm fine," Gray and I stated in unison as Natsu scooped Skye up off the ground.

"Help Saphira," Skye demanded.

"I'm fine," I stated, trying to walk normally. I limped with each step.

"You can barely walk," Gray said with one eyebrow raised in question.

"I'll be fine" I snapped as my hair combusted.

"Come here," Gray demanded and wrapped one of his arms around my torso to stabilize me.

I didn't fight back any further because I realized I couldn't deny help from the people that cared for me any longer.

"God, you're really hot," he said and pulled away a bit as an attempt to avoid being burned.

"Repeat that, Gray?" Natsu questioned with a threatening glare.

"She's physically too hot! Can you see her flaming hair?" he rebutted.

"Oh," Natsu replied obviously misinterpreting the situation.

"I'm sorry! I'm always like this," I responded. "It came along with the being genetically mutated thing."

"Why don't you just wear Lavond's claw necklace?" Skye asked. "It may help to keep your power in check if you keep it with you. It may give you more control."

"I didn't think of that," I responded.

"I still vote that Natsu and I switch twins just in case the whole necklace thing doesn't work," Gray responded.

"I agree," Natsu said as he handed Skye over to Gray. I fiddled with the chain of the dragon claw necklace and secured it to it's new place around my neck.

"_I'm definitely cool with this," _I thought to myself as Natsu switched places with Gray.

"Are you okay? You don't look like you're feeling so great," Natsu said and tightened his grip a bit.

"Uh, is it normal for things to be spinning?" I asked, slurring my words together.

"No. That's not good," Natsu said and watched me trying to function normally.

"Why are Gray and Saphira so blurry?" I asked as I started to stagger instead of walk.

"Uh, you're Saphira," Natsu said now seeming really worried.

"Oh, are you sure?" I asked, and everything went fuzzy. "She looks like the person I see in the shiny box every morning."

"You mean the mirror?" Natsu asked with a concerned chuckle.

"That's the word!" I giggled hysterically.

Everything then went from fuzzy to black and the last thing I remembered was hitting the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight — Skye

I awoke feeling the gentle heat being given off from my gem. I fluttered my eyes open and saw Gray staring back at me. As I regained feeling in my body, I noticed that Gray had a hold of my hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he squeezed my hand.

"Groggy and exhausted," I explained, "but I'll be okay."

"Careful not to be too loud," he started. "You're not the only one in the infirmary."

I looked over and saw Saphira laying in the bed next to me. Natsu was asleep in the chair next to her, resting his head on her arm.

"Why are they here?" I questioned.

"You must've been knocked out before Saphira started acting weird. She lost a lot of blood," he elaborated. "You should ask her about her 'shiny box.'"

"'Shiny box?'" I asked.

"What about a shiny box?" I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up and saw Kade open the infirmary door and lean against the wall. "Did Saphira do something stupid?"

"Is that not normal?" I asked sarcastically.

"No, it's normal," he explained. "She's a spaz. But I wanna know the details."

"What are you doing here?" Gray asked.

"I came to check on the newly discovered sisters," he stated. "Makarov sent me."

"Why would he send you?" I questioned.

"I'm on Fairy Tail probation," he elaborated. He pushed up his left sleeve and showed off his outlined guild mark. "Makarov also told me that Saphira is off probation. Her outline should've filled itself in."

"Where's her mark?" Gray asked.

"I thought I saw something on her forearm earlier, but I honestly don't know," I responded.

"Which arm?" Kade questioned.

"The one under Natsu's head, I think," I answered.

Kade's face went blank as he processed. "You mean we have our guild marks in the same place?!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Shh!" I hushed. I looked over at Saphira and saw her eyes open slightly.

"Kade, what the hell are you doing here?" she muttered as she covered her eyes to protect them from the bright lights.

"Just checkin up on you, blondie," he responded.

Saphira grimaced. "Don't call me blondie!" she grumbled.

"We were trying to figure out where and what color your guild mark was," I stated trying to see through Natsu's head.

"Uh, it's just a red outline and it's under Natsu's head," she said and smiled down at the sleeping mass of pink hair.

"Damnit," Kade muttered under his breath and glared at his guild mark outline. "How do you get it moved?"

"You don't, and just because you say things under your breath, doesn't mean I can't hear them," Saphira said glaring at him.

"Saphira, you may want to move his head and check your mark," I suggested.

"Why should I-" she started as she moved Natsu. Her eyes widened in excitement as the filled in mark came into view. "It filled in! I'm officially a member of Fairy Tail!" she squealed excitedly.

"Congrats!" I cheered.

"W-what's going on?" Natsu asked groggily as he lifted his head.

"I'm officially a member of Fairy Tail!" Saphira exclaimed. "I finally have a family!"

"I'm glad! I knew you could do it!" Natsu said and hugged her tightly.

A smile stretched across his lips as he watched her eyes sparkle in excitement.

"Are you feeling well enough to get out of bed yet, Saphira?" I asked concocting a plan in my head.

"Uh, lemme check," she said as she tried to stand up.

She immediately collapsed and fell to the ground.

"Sapphire, you might not wanna use too much energy yet," Natsu said and walked over to where she laid on the ground.

He picked her up and placed her back in the infirmary bed. She settled into the covers reluctantly. I signalled for the boys to come closer to me as I hatched my plan.

"Kade come with me. Gray, get Natsu to stay with Saphira; I have an idea and I know he'll ruin it if he finds out," I instructed quietly and swung my feet off the side of my bed.

"Okay," the boys said in unison and then scowled at each other.

"You sure you're ready to get up?" Gray questioned looking concerned.

"I feel a little shaky, but I'll be fine. My magic was just exhausted. I wasn't as bad as Saphira," I explained. I casually walked out the door, careful to avoid Saphira's inquisitive gaze.

"Where they goin?" Natsu asked looking intrigued as Kade and I started to leave.

"Oh they're just going to see if they can get Kade's guild mark filled in too," Gray said. "You should stay here with Saphira, in case she needs anything."

I couldn't help but wait at the other side of the wall and listen to Gray's impromptu lies.

"I'm still really tired," Natsu stated.

"Then lay with Saphira," Gray said with a smirk and pushed him over onto her.

He pushed Natsu into bed with Saphira and waited there to make sure he didn't get up again.

"Not a half bad idea," Natsu said and pulled her close to him.

"Wow she fell asleep fast," Gray said looking at an already sleeping Saphira in surprise.

"Oh yeah she always does," Natsu stated and rested his head against hers.

"How do you know that?" Gray asked.

"The week she was chained to me she slept in my room," Natsu said starting to fall asleep.

"Oh, well then," Gray said and waited for Natsu to fall asleep.

Saphira snuggled up closer to him and nestled her head into his chest. He smiled and his body relaxed. A few minutes later Natsu was out and Gray followed after me.

"Why are you just standing there?" Gray asked looking at me seeming rather confused.

"I was curious to see how you would handle the situation," I explained.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Kade questioned.

"We're welcoming Saphira to the guild. We're going to throw a party. But one of you needs to stay here and make sure these two stay in here," I finished.

The boys looked at each other. "NOT IT!" they yelled in unison.

"One of you has to do it," I reminded.

"Make the newbie do it!" Gray offered. "He's still on probation!"

"Exactly!" Kade rebutted. "I'm on probation, so I shouldn't be left alone. Wouldn't want me getting into trouble."

"He's got a point, Gray," I concluded. "Will you please stay and stand watch? Just keep them out of the main area for a while."

"Fine," Gray grumbled. He leaned up against the wall as Kade and I walked away. I glanced back and saw Gray's eyes shooting daggers at Kade.

"He's awfully protective," Kade commented.

"Yeah, he's always been like that," I responded.

"I think he has a thing for you," Kade responded seeming unenthused by this possibility.

"_Well I know he at least likes me a little bit. You don't kiss someone you have lukewarm feeling for,"_ I thought.

"Do you like him back?" Kade asked suddenly looking nervous.

"That's a very personal question," I responded taken back by his boldness .

"Yeah, sorry," he responded and rubbed the back of his neck.

We walked around searching for Mirajane to discuss planning with.

"Hey, Skye! What's new?" she asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

"I have an idea," I responded.

"I asked what was new, not what happens every other minute," she laughed.

"We should have a party for Saphira! So she can try to make friends aside from Natsu and the other dragon slayers," I stated my idea.

"Yes! I'll go decorate! Can I leave you guys in charge of food?" she asked looking at Kade and I.

"Sure! Uhm, Kade?" I questioned as Mirajane walked away to collect decorations.

"Yeah?" he responded, seeming unsure of why I was talking to him instead of Mira.

"What kind of food does Saphira like?" I asked realizing I didn't even remember that minute detail from our childhood.

"Everything," he stated with a chuckle. "Cake is her favorite though."

"Well then, Erza and she will get along famously," I concluded, thinking about Erza's unnatural obsession with cake.

"She mostly just likes the icing, but, yeah, she goes nuts over it," he said still laughing.

"You guys may be jerks, but you can't deny you care about each other," I said with a smile.

"She's like my big sister," he stated. "Even if she's annoying and hotheaded."

"It's actually kind of sweet," I said teasing him a bit.

"Don't tell her," Kade demanded. "I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Your secret is safe with me," I promised and guided him to the kitchen.

We spent the next hour or so cooking a wide variety of different foods, in an attempt to please the guild. However, the sheer size of the guild made this quite a challenge. I couldn't help but notice that every so often Kade would pause what he was doing and look up at me.

"_What is he looking at? If he is looking at me, then why is he?"_ I questioned to myself.

I looked up and met his gaze, my face reddened to match the red velvet cake I was icing.

"Could you help me with these?" he asked and held up a tray of mostly un-iced cupcakes.

"Sure," I said, picked up a spatula and started icing cupcakes.

I'm not entirely sure how, but somehow my hand slipped, sending the icing covered spatula through the air. It then landed on the top of Kade's head.

"Oh, oops," I said and tried not to laugh.

He then dipped his spatula in the icing bowl and wiped it on my nose.

"Oh, oops," he added with a cocky smirk.

"No fair! Mine was an accident!" I laughed and did the same.

"That was totally an accident," he said sarcastically.

"It was!" I rebutted.

Our icing battle went on for a while longer, leaving both of us covered in what we were supposed to be putting on the cupcakes.

"I think we need more icing," he said looking down at the empty bowl.

"I think I need a shower," I deducted looking at my hair.

"Mind if i join you?" he teased.

"Yes, I mind!" I responded.

Even though I knew he was joking, well at least I was pretty sure he was joking, my face still turned really red and my heart refused to stop racing. I looked around the kitchen trying to steady my heart rate. My eyes stopped on an open window. Smoke seeped in through the window from the outside. Shortly after noticing the smoke, a ball of fire went flying by the window. It met it's demise after landing in a water fountain.

"There's my pyro," Kade and I concluded in unison watching the fireball fly by.

"No, that's definitely Saphira," Kade said with one cocked eyebrow.

"No, it has to be Natsu. Saphira can barely stand," I explained.

"Care to make a bet?" Kade asked.

"You're on!" I challenged and we started to walk towards the door that leads outside.

"If I win, you have to go on a date with me," he said blushing a little.

I paused unsure of what to say. His offer didn't exactly sound like a punishment.

"Okay, and if I win you have to spend a whole day with Gray being nothing but nice to him and doing whatever he says," I laughed.

"Fine, then. It's a date," he said as we opened the door.

We peered out to see not one, but two fire dragon slayers causing the commotion.

"Whatcha guys doin?" Kade said trying to avoid getting singed.

"Seeing who's the better dragon slayer," Natsu responded.

"I'm totally winning!" Saphira exclaimed.

"Yeah, right," Natsu said with a sarcastic smirk.

"So, who won our bet?" Kade questioned, as he turned back to me.

"What bet?" Saphira asked from a distance.

"Uh, nothing," I lied. I didn't want either of the fire dragon slayers to know that we had bet on them. "So, why are you out here instead of in your hospital bed."

"Porlyusica came in a little bit after you guys left," Natsu explained. "She gave Saphira some medicine or something and told her to test out her magic. So we're out here!" He leaned in closer and barely whispered, "Gray explained your surprise party idea. Consider this a diversion."

"Where is Gray?" Saphira asked as she walked closer to us. "Didn't he walk off with you guys earlier?"

"No, we split up," Kade answered. "I wonder where he is."

"Ice horsey!" I turned my head and saw Asuka riding on Gray's back as he crawled around the clearing. I stifled a laugh as I started walking toward them.

"Here, Asuka." I flexed my fingers and conjured a mini horse made of water. "You can ride the water horse," I offered.

"Water horsey!" she yelled excitedly as she dismounted Gray and climbed onto her new toy. A subtle flick of my wrist sent them to do slow laps around the field.

"Thanks," Gray said as he stood up.

"What happened to being a guard?" I questioned with my eyebrow raised.

"Porlyusica sent Natsu and I off while she treated Saphira," he explained as we turned to walk back to the others. "Natsu knows your plans now, by the way."

"Yeah, he told me. He offered to be the diversion. I think we're almost done putting everything together."

I looked up at the others. Kade had him arms crossed with a side glance at Natsu and Saphira, who had engaged in another competition. They were both drawing in the grass with their fire magic.

"Whatcha drawing?" I asked them as we got closer.

"You," Saphira stated simply. "Natsu's gonna lose, though. Feu taught me how to draw. Plus, this is practically a self-portrait for me." Natsu looked up and smiled at Saphira while she talked.

Saphira's actually looked like a person, on the other hand, Natsu's did not.

"I can't draw," Natsu said looking at the misshapen stick figure he had burnt into the grass.

"I WIN!" Saphira exclaimed and jumped up and down in excitement.

"Shut up!" Natsu demanded with his arms crossed.

"Make me!" she countered with a taunting smile.

"Maybe I will," he said and took a step closer.

Her hair started to burn faintly regardless of the necklace stifling her power at his approach.

"Well she's distracted, maybe now would be a good time to check on the party situation," Gray said amused by Saphira and Natsu's flirtation.

"Yeah. Good idea," I responded and walked in quickly to check.

"We all ready?" I questioned to Mira who was wiping off the bar.

"Yeah! Bring her in," She said with a smile.

I walked back out and saw the dragon slayers now engaged in a staring contest.

"Uh, Saphira?" I questioned.

"Yeah," she said refusing to break concentration.

"Can you come inside with me?" I asked hesitantly.

"Why?" she asked and looked over at me.

"HAH I WIN!" Natsu taunted.

"I have something to show you," I responded.

"Okay," she said, ignoring Natsu's exclamation and followed me inside.

Everyone sat waiting for us to come through the doors. When we entered, everyone greeted her with open arms. Whether or not some of those open arms were too enthusiastic is debatable. There was a shy smile stretched across Saphira's face as she hugged everyone; Especially when she met Lucy for the first time. After she made her way through the crowd she exiled herself to the corner near Mira.

I didn't understand her. It was her party and yet there she sat, trying to avoid any form of socialization. I wanted so badly to get inside of her head.

"What's wrong?" I asked when I was close enough to her.

"Nothing, I just don't really know how to act at parties, I guess" she explained and shrugged.

"Just how you usually act," I responded.

"This is how I usually act," she muttered. "I'm not exactly used to having people care about whether or not I'm social. I'm not really used to people genuinely caring about me at all."

"Well, you're one of us now, so get used to it. C'mon, let's teach you how to be social." I stood up and extended my hand to her.

We walked around, celebrating her initiation with everyone in the guild. Everyone congratulated her and introduced themselves. It was nice to see her being welcomed into the guild. I left her mid-discussion with Bisca and Alzack regarding their weapons of choice. I walked over to the bar and sat next to Gray.

"Seems like your necklace idea worked," he mentioned. "I haven't seen her combust once since she's entered the room."

"Well, there's one way to test it," I added with a maniacal smile. I walked back over to my twin. "Hey, Saphira! Natsu wanted to see you!" I exclaimed as I pushed her into Natsu. She stumbled and barely managed to catch herself as she landed into him. He caught her without thinking and just stood there holding her in his arms.

"Hey there, Sapphire," He said with an amused laugh.

"H-hi," she stuttered and looked up at him.

"Wow her necklace actually works!" I remarked to Gray. "If anything could make her hair combust, being close to Natsu would definitely do it."

"Sorry," she said and stood up. "I got pushed."

I smiled at her wickedly and waved.

"Is it weird that I kind of like them together?" Lucy said approaching Gray and I.

"I thought you liked him?" I asked semi surprised.

"I used to, but I like someone else now," she said blushing.

"WHO?" Gray and I questioned in unison.

"Come over later and I'll tell you," Lucy said. "Oh, and bring Saphira."

"Why don't I get to know?" Gray said with a frown.

"See you two later!" she said and walked away without answering Gray.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine — Saphira

I watched Skye closely, making sure she wouldn't try to pull anything else like that for the next few minutes. After a while, my mind was put at ease when I saw her talking to Gray. She obviously had a thing for him, so I knew I was the last thing she'd be thinking about.

"Why did you get pushed into me exactly?" Natsu asked as I adjusted myself.

"I don't know" I said trying not to stutter. "Skye is trying to get us together I think."

"Oh," he said blushing.

"Yeah, I don't know why," I said and focused on unwrapping a cupcake.

"I know why," Natsu stated.

"Why?" I asked as my heart started racing.

"Cuz we'd be one of the most awesome couples ever," he said with a smile. "How cool would a dragon slayer couple be?"

"That would be pretty awesome," I said trying to conceal my smile.

"Plus, anytime I touch you, your hair catches on fire," he stated. "So they think you like me."

"Not every time," I said putting my hair in pigtails. "If that were the case then when she pushed me into you my hair would've caught fire."

"Yeah, but what would happen if we took off your necklace?" I heard Skye's voice behind me and then off came my necklace.

"Give it back!" I scolded and held out my hand.

"Hmm...I don't think so," Skye said and ran off.

"Get back here!" I yelled and chased after her.

Gray walked over and stood next to Natsu. They both watched in amusement as I chased her around the Guild Hall.

"Give it back!" I yelled as my hair caught fire.

"Nope!" she yelled back. "You have to catch me first!"

"So help me God I will burn you," I said and plowed past Elfman and Evergreen, who were looking awfully cozy.

"That's how you run like a real man!" he exclaimed watching me chase Skye around.

"Got you!" I exclaimed as my hand found her wrist.

"Damnit!" she cursed and tried to pull away.

"Nope! Give me my necklace!" I said tightening my grip.

"Fine, but on one condition," she said and dangled the chain in front of me.

"What is it?" I asked trying to grab it but she pulled it away too fast.

"Come with me to Lucy's tonight," she stated.

"Uh, can I please not?" I said feeling awkward.

"_I'm not super sure how much I want to got to Lucy's after what happened with Natsu and I," _ I thought as I watched her put the necklace back in her pocket.

"Why not? Lucy is a sweet girl," she said sounding more like she was taunting me than pleading with me.

"I-I just don't know her that well," I responded trying to find a way to get out of it.

"So? You slept in the same bed as Natsu in the first week you met him," she stated and smirked as my face flushed.

"I slept on the floor, thank you very much!" I said trying to stop my face from turning red. "I also didn't have a choice; I was handcuffed to him!"

"I don't know if I believe that," she teased and watched my hair burn brighter as the conversation went on.

"It's true!" I said trying to calm myself down.

"I like when you don't have the necklace on," she laughed.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Your hair gives away all of your emotions!" she laughed harder.

"Fine. I'll go!" I said and ripped the necklace out of her hand.

I put it back on and dreaded the inevitable future awkwardness. I knew that before I got here everyone was absolutely certain that Natsu and Lucy we're going to get together. I felt bad for having any feelings for him because of that. She was there first and I wasn't sure how to go about making the feelings stop.

I walked back over to where I was previously standing and resumed unwrapping my cupcake.

"Did you have a nice run?" Natsu teased.

"Shut up," I pouted and licked the icing off of my cupcake.

"You've talked to us without your necklace before. Why does it matter so much now?" Gray asked and grabbed the pendant.

"No reason," I said and went to reach for another cupcake.

"So I hear you're going to Lucy's house later?" Natsu said seeming intrigued.

"Yup," I stated and glared at the empty plate where the cupcakes once were.

"You don't seem excited about that," Gray said and looked me.

"Where did the cupcake go?" I said and stood up.

"You ate them all," Gray stated and grabbed my wrist pulling me back down. "You are avoiding the question."

"Do you want me to go get more?" Natsu offered.

"Yes please!" I said with a smile and watched him walk off.

"Could this have something to do with Natsu and Lucy having a thing in the past?" Gray asked.

"Why would I care?" I asked avoiding eye contact.

"Cuz you like him," Gray said.

"Do not," I said glaring at him.

"You don't kiss someone you don't like," Gray stated.

"How do you know that?" I asked taken back a bit.

"Oh, I didn't," he responded with a smirk. "You just confirmed it."

"You tell no one!" I demanded hating myself for falling into his trap.

"I wont tell anyone," He said chuckling. "Except Skye."

"Don't you dare tell Skye!" I responded.

"Tell Skye what?" Skye asked once again from behind me.

"Would you stop that!" I said and grabbed my necklace trying to protect it from her.

"She and Natsu kissed and didn't tell us," Gray said before I had time to stop him.

"Oh, and why would you not tell me this?" Skye demanded.

"It's not gonna happen again." I stated.

"Yeah sure," Gray said sarcastically. "You keep telling yourself that."

"When are we going to Lucy's?" I asked trying to change the topic.

"Whenever you're ready to leave," Skye stated.

"You wanna go after Natsu gets back?" I asked.

"Sure. Why do we have to wait for Natsu to come back though?" Skye questioned.

"He's bringing back cupcakes," I said enthusiastically.

After we got the cupcakes and said our goodbyes, we went off to Lucy's apartment. I was overwhelmed from everything I had been through in the past few days and couldn't seem to focus on what was going on. Between having flashbacks to being with Natsu and thinking about Luna, I couldn't keep a conversation with Skye to save my life.

"You okay?" Skye asked as I trudged along behind her, gazing off into the water absentmindedly.

"Yeah. I miss Luna," I stated.

"That's your exceed, right?" she asked looking back at me.

"Yeah. They still have her," I said wishing I could go get her back.

"Don't worry; you'll see her soon enough" Skye said.

"Yeah, I hope so," I said as we knocked on Lucy's door.

Lucy opened the door and peered out at us. She was dressed in pale pink Pj's and had her hair down around her shoulders.

"Hey girls!" she said with a bright smile. "C'mon in."

"Thanks!" Skye replied brightly and pulled me through the door.

Erza Scarlet and Cana Alberona sat on the floor dressed in various different shades and patterns of Pj's. Another girl with short blue hair sat next to Erza.

Even though Erza and I have never been formally introduced, I remember a lot of information about her from when the Maire guild was planning its attack. She's an S-Class wizard and among the strongest members of the guild. Her infamous Requip magic was a major concern for the success of our plans.

Cana I knew less about. I had met her at the bar in the guild hall, but I didn't have very much information on her. All I really know is that she's a heavy drinker and uses card magic. I read that there was supposedly a connection between her and Gildarts Clive, but the Council didn't have very much solid information on that.

"Hiya!" Skye exclaimed.

"Hey!" they all returned. Everyone but Cana replied. She was too busy chugging away at her barrel of booze.

"I'm Levy McGarden!" she introduced herself and extended her hand to me. "Lucy and Skye have told me everything about you."

"Everything?" I asked with a concerned look as I sat on the ground with the rest of them.

"Relax," Erza instructed. "Fairy Tail is big on second chances."

"Take Gajeel for an example," Levy explained. "When he first came into contact with Fairy Tail, he hung Jet, Droy, and me up in a tree. And nowadays he has friends and goes on jobs just like the rest of us."

"Friends isn't the only thing he has now," Cana taunted.

Levy's face gained a subtle pink tint. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Everyone except me burst out laughing. There was obviously some joke that I was not a part of. I glanced out the window and barely saw something quickly back away from the glass.

"Be social," Skye whispered and elbowed me in the arm.

"Ow, hi." I turned back toward the group and rubbed my arm.

"You guys wanna play a game?" Lucy offered.

"Yeah!" Levy said.

"What game?" I asked attempting to be social.

"Truth or dare?" Lucy suggested.

"That sounds intriguing," Erza approved.

"I'll go first!" Skye exclaimed. "Truth!"

We all waited as Lucy contemplated over what to ask my twin. She donned a mischievous smile as she turned to face Skye.

"What's going on with you and Gray?" she asked with a grin.

Skye's eyes opened wide as her cheeks turned a bright pink. "N-nothing's going on," she stuttered quickly.

"That's a lie," I concluded aloud. "It's called _truth_ or dare, not lie or dare. You have to answer honestly."

"Uhm." She closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. "I may or may not have kissed him while we were in the forest. After Natsu ran off after Saphira," she finished with a weak smile. My jaw dropped in amusement.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Lucy asked.

I glanced back at the window to see the silhouette of a blue-haired woman. I closed my eyes and let my senses drift outside.

"_Why did Gray-sama not tell Juvia about this? How dare she kiss Gray-sama!" _I heard a voice say.

When I refocused my attention inside, the girls were once again giggling. "Who's Juvia?" I asked without thinking.

"She's a water mage from Fairy Tail," Erza explained.

"She's OBSESSED with Gray," Cana added.

"Blue hair? Speaks in the third person?" I questioned.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Lucy asked.

I leaned into the center of our little circle. "I think she's outside. And she's not exactly happy about Skye's little secret," I whispered to the girls.

Skye's face went blank. "Shit," she muttered.

Lucy raised a finger to her mouth in an attempt to silence everyone. She stealthily tiptoed to the window and opened it abruptly.

"Juvia?!" Lucy exclaimed. I saw the blue haired girl lift her head sheepishly in confirmation. "What are you doing out there? You said you weren't able to come."

"My plans changed," Juvia nervously rambled.

"Then why didn't you just knock on the door?" Skye asked. "We would've let you in."

I could vaguely hear Juvia mumbling under her breath about a "love rival," but I couldn't make sense of her insane whispers. "Juvia really must go now!" She turned and maneuvered her way out the window and down to the street.

"That was weird," Levy chimed in.

"Yeah, I agree," Lucy said and closed the window. "Your turn Skye."

"Saphira, or should I say Sapphire?" Skye taunted. "Truth or dare?"

"Uh, truth," I replied sheepishly.

"Do you like anyone at the guild?" she asked with an evil smirk.

"No," I stated unable to make eye contact with her.

"That's a lie," she mocked. "This is truth or dare, not lie or dare. You have to answer honestly."

"Fine, I kinda do," I stated refusing to look at Lucy.

"Is it Natsu?" Lucy asked teasingly.

"No no no, y'all get one question," I said and looked at Lucy. "Truth or dare."

"Truth," she said excitedly.

"Who do you like?" I asked, praying she wouldn't say Natsu.

"Kade," she said and tried not to look at me.

"Ew, why?" I asked imagining her with the bird loving idiot.

"He's cute, and he's really sweet to me," she said with a smile.

"Well he certainly has a thing for busty blondes," I remarked.

"Okay, Erza?" Lucy asked. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she stated.

"What are the juicy details about you and Jellal?" Lucy questioned.

Erza stared blankly at Lucy for a couple seconds. "Uhm…" she began. "Nothing definite has happened. I don't entirely understand it or him." Everyone giggled at Erza. "W-who wants cake?" she asked to divert our attention. She and Lucy ventured off to the kitchen and returned moments later with a decadent strawberry cake.

"Here you go, Saphira." Erza handed me the first slice.

"So what do you think of Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked me.

"It's weird," I attempted to explain. "I love the guild, and all of you guys are wonderful, but something just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Levy questioned in a concerned tone.

"I feel like our adventures aren't over yet. Like the craziness has just begun." I shrugged and returned my focus to my cake.

"You started hanging around Natsu. The craziness is **never **over. Trust me," Lucy agreed.

I took a bite of my cake and started to think. The path ahead may be challenging, but now I have Skye, Natsu, and the others to help me through it. Things are changing, but one things for sure; I finally have a family.


End file.
